Stars Dance
by noblecrescent
Summary: The Doctor knows she's not the most typical companion but she's the one who needs him most. Avalon Reynolds has grown up knowing the Doctor's stories all her life. Although she's troublesome, she has a heart of gold that the Doctor cannot deny. He brings her, Amy Pond & Lena Reynolds into the TARDIS & in doing so he starts setting the seeds for the biggest stories of his lives.
1. The Little Girls of 5 Minutes Ago

**Author's Note:**

 _Welcome to this new Doctor Who x OC story of mine! This story will include the entire 5th season plus the Christmas episode. Because this is going to include two OCs there are going to be modifications to the season in order to fit my own story. This will be an eventual OC/11th Doctor pairing story!_

 _OC #1 will look like Rachelle Lefevre - ginger locks and blue eyes!_

 _OC #2 will look like Bella Heathcote - ashy brown hair and blue eyes!_

 _And, just for fun, the song Stars Dance by Selena Gomez will be the theme for this story!_

* * *

In a child's bedroom, a young ginger girl and an ashy brunette girl were knelt down beside the only bed in the room. Both were meant to be praying, although the brunette girl didn't think they would be praying to a figment of imagination.

"Dear Santa, thank you for the dolls and pencils and the fish," the ginger was praying. She missed her third friend, who sat on her bed, rolling her eyes.

"Amelia, I told you, Santa isn't real," the ashy brunette kneeling beside Amelia said, her voice a bit scratchy. "It's just some ploy to get market sells up-"

"Shut up, Lena ," Amelia opened her eyes and gave her friend a small frown. She was sick of this argument because no matter what she said, Lena would still refuse to believe it. "Santa _is_ real."

"Nu-uh," Lena shook her head fast.

"Lena stop that, you're going to get dizzy," the second ginger-haired girl on Amelia's bed ordered. She stopped brushing a barbie doll's hair that she was holding to give Lena a scolding look. "And then you'll have to take your medicine again and Dad and Mum are going to get crossed with me for it."

"Avalon, tell your sister Santa _is_ real," Amelia said. She knew Avalon was much more open-minded than her twin sister was. She believed in everything that wasn't real.

"Of course Santa is real," Avalon mumbled as she brushed the barbie's hair, rolling her icy blue eyes like it should have been logical that this was the truth.

"Avalon, don't do that. Dad says Santa is just a ploy for the hum-"

"Lena, be quiet," Avalon immediately said before her sister said some words Amelia should never know about.

"Sorry," Lena looked down, realizing her mistake.

"Anyways, were doing something important," Amelia reminded, re-taking her praying position, "Santa, I promise it's an emergency. There's a crack in my wall..."

Avalon looked up from the barbie and stared at the wall of Amelia's bedroom where a big, nasty crack was sprawled on. As Amelia continued to pray, Avalon hopped off the bed and went to the wall. There was always so much trouble with the stupid crack on the wall. No one believed Amelia that there were noises on the other side...but Avalon did. She knew it was something alien and despite the fact she told her parents, they didn't do anything to help Amelia. But that was always the way Avalon's family acted - they tried to be human as best as possible to fit in.

"Avalon, you have to stay away from it," Lena said nervously. She was afraid of the crack like Amelia was but her sister was always looking for trouble and going straight for the danger.

Although to Avalon it was more of her trying to see what made things tick. Even then as she walked up to the wall she didn't bother about any calls from her sister warning her of danger. Instead, she tried to dig her finger into the crack, as if it would poke into the other side. She was sure there was another side - but Amelia would probably never guess that on her own.

"Avalon..." Lena called again, more like whispered. She always did that when she became afraid. She wished Amelia would stop praying and help her get Avalon back, but unfortunately it seemed like Amelia was sticking to it.

"Aunt Sharon says it's just an ordinary crack, but... I know it's not, because, at night, there's voices. So please, please, could you send someone to fix it? Or a policeman. Or..." Amelia stopped when they heard something crashing in the garden.

Avalon immediately spun around as Lena gasped loudly, terrified. All three girls remained silent for a moment, but then Avalon's eyes flickered to the bedroom window and she just couldn't resist.

"Lena, stay here," she ordered and rushed out of the room.

Amelia decided to go and see as well. She hurried to collect some shoes and a jacket. "Back in a moment!" she assured for Lena then ran out.

Lena breathed heavily and stood to her feet, slowly walking up to the bedroom window. She curled her fingers over her sleeves as she looked out. Her eyes widened when she saw a...blue box...

~ 0 ~

Avalon and Amelia ran outside of the house, Amelia wearing a red jacket and matching wellies unlike Avalon who was outside in her pajamas and no shoes. The doors of the TARDIS opened and a rope with a grappling hook was thrown out, latching into a lawn roller. Both girls watched as one hand and another came over the edge of the box followed by the Doctor's head.

"Can I have an apple?" was his first question. "All I can think about - apples. I love apples. Maybe I'm having a craving. That's new - never had cravings before," he straddled the TARDIS and looked back inside, "Whoa! Look at that!"

"Are you okay?" Amelia asked. She once again missed her friend's reaction to the strange sight.

Avalon's eyes were fixated on the lopsided blue box. There were so many things that ran through her head, but the main one was ' _I know him_ '. Needless to say, she was fascinated in an instant. "That's not the first question to ask," she distractedly said to Amelia before walking towards the Doctor and his box. "Are you the Doctor?" she demanded. For her, she had merely been asking but for the Doctor it was such a sight to see a little girl demanding something from him.

"Now how would you know that?" he asked, expressing bemusement.

"Because I do know," she said with the biggest smile on her face. "You're him, aren't you?"

If the Doctor had been amused before now he was properly entertained. "Yes, I am."

"Why is he soaking wet?" Amelia came to stand beside Avalon, trying to lean and see what was inside the box.

The Doctor swung both his legs to one side and sat properly over the box. "Just had a fall. All the way down there, right to the library. Hell of a climb back up."

"Are you a policeman?" Amelia curiously asked.

"Why?" the Doctor stopped. "Did you call a policeman?"

"No, she called Santa," Avalon replied fast. "But you're better! You can help!"

"Help with what?"

"The crack in my wall," Amelia eyed her friend weirdly, wondering why she was so excited over this strange man.

"What cra...?" the Doctor suddenly gasped and fell to the ground, hand clutching his chest.

"Are you okay!?" Avalon rushed to him, Amelia following in suit.

The Doctor pulled himself to his knees, but still struggled to get himself back on track. This regeneration sure seemed to be a wonky one. "No, I'm fine, it's okay. This is all perfectly norm-" but he stopped against his will and released a golden wisp of regeneration energy.

"What is _that_?" Avalon blinked with widened eyes.

Amelia, on the other side, felt a bit creeped out for a moment. "Who are you?"

The Doctor raised both his hands that were now glowing with the same colored energy. "I don't know yet. I'm still cooking. Does it scare you?"

"Nothing scares me," Avalon proudly said. "Especially not you!"

"It just looks...weird," Amelia thought the man didn't look quite menacing, at least not the way her aunt described strangers.

"No, no, no," the Doctor shook his head at them both. "I meant the crack in your wall," he nodded to Amelia. "Does it scare you?"

"Yes," Amelia said quietly.

"There's something there, I know it," Avalon was the complete opposite once again. She was excited to know that now they would be able to discover what was really on the other side of the crack. Because that's what the Doctor did, she heard from her family - he helped!

"Well, then, no time to lose," the Doctor sprang into action. "I'm the Doctor. Do everything I tell you, don't ask stupid questions and don't wander of." But as soon as he strode away, he walked straight into a tree and was knocked backwards onto the ground.

Avalon skipped up to the Doctor and looked down at the man. "If you can be stupid and walk into trees, then how come you tell us not to be stupid?"

"Well, you're a nice one," the Doctor remarked, unable to smile at the girl.

With a smile of her own, she helped him up and brought him to Amelia's house with the help of the latter. As soon as they were inside, Avalon's twin sister, Lena was waiting with fearful eyes by the threshold. When the Doctor saw her, she gasped and pulled back into the hallway.

"Lena!" Avalon went after her, leaving the Doctor with Amelia in the kitchen. "Lena! Lena, it's okay!"

"Avalon, you brought a stranger into Amelia's house!" Lena whispered frantically, her eyes filling with tears. "What if - what if he tries to hurt us-"

Avalon grabbed her sister by the shoulders, laughing a bit. "Lena, no, it's _him_. It's the Doctor! You remember the story, right?"

Lena made a face for the first couple of seconds. "The...the Doctor?"

"Yes," Avalon nodded her head, letting go of Lena's shoulders. "I don't know how...but he finally showed up again! Isn't that great!?"

Lena's eyes drifted to the kitchen threshold where they could both hear the Doctor shooting down the apple Amelia had apparently given him. "But...but if he's the Doctor, then shouldn't we call Mum and Dad?"

"No!" Avalon's eyes widened. "No! If we do that...then they'll want to talk to him like boring adults do. This is our time, Lena. This is our time to meet him and...and ask him about that day."

"But we can't do that," Lena said quietly. She leaned closer to her sister and whispered her next words. "Amelia doesn't know that we're not fully human."

"Okay," Avalon realized Lena was right and that they would be unable to fully ask the Doctor all of their questions. "But...but we can still talk to him, right? We don't need to call any adults, okay?" Lena gave a small nod of her head. Avalon took her hand and excitedly led her back into the kitchen.

Amelia was in the middle of giving the Doctor a small yogurt. He practically snatched it fro her and ripped off the top. As soon as the yogurt went into his mouth he spit it out to the side. "I hate yogurt," he tasted the remnants of it in his mouth and cringed. "It's just stuff with bits in!"

"You said it was your favorite," Amelia frowned.

"New mouth, new rules," the Doctor excused himself and unceremoniously wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Eugh," Lena crinkled her nose. "Mister, do you want a napkin?"

The Doctor laughed for a short minute and doubled over with pain. "Agh!"

"What's wrong with you?" Avalon asked him.

"Wrong with me? It's not my fault. Why can't any of you give me decent food!?" was the snappy response.

Avalon frowned suddenly, her eyes narrowing in such a way that it amused the Doctor how quickly she could put on an angry face for a seven year old. "You don't have to be mean. You're not supposed to be! That's not you!"

"Yeah?" the Doctor straightened up. "And just how am I supposed to be, then?"

"Nice!" Avalon tapped her head like it was obvious. "Just because you're hungry doesn't mean you have to be mean."

"Fair enough," the Doctor conceded, but he was almost sure the little girl was keeping something else. She carried herself with an aura of knowledge that apparently Amelia didn't know.

Sometime later, Amelia had begun to fry some bacon. Lena had been nice enough to give the Doctor a towel for his soaky appearance.

"Why are you wet?" she eyed him with a small frown. "Don't you know you can get sick like that? My Mum says the water is bad for you."

"No," Amelia looked over at her friend, "She says it's bad for _you_. You're the one that's sick, remember?"

Lena nodded. The Doctor eyed the girl and noticed she did look a shade paler than the two gingers. Her voice also sounded much softer.

When Amelia finished with the bacon, she slid the plate to the Doctor on the table and anxiously waited for him to taste it.

Once again, the Doctor had disliked her food. He spit it back on the plate and pushed it away. "Bacon. That's bacon. Are you trying to poison me?"

"But that's what you wanted," Avalon said, rather irritated he was being this childish. Not even her little brother was this childish.

"No, I did not want that!"

Amelia tried her luck again, and this time came up with some beans. But just as the previous times, when the Doctor took his first forkful of it, he spit it out. "Beans are evil. Bad, bad beans!"

"Ah!" Avalon waved her hands in exasperation. "You get one more try, mister!"

Amelia provided next some bread and butter.

"Bread and butter. Now you're talking," the Doctor rubbed his hands in anticipation while Amelia spread some butter over the toast. Amelia soon handed him the plate and wished with all her heart that this would be the snack he finally wanted. Because if not, she was pretty sure Avalon would kick him.

"Eugh!" the Doctor crinkled his nose but instead of putting the plate down like the last times, he walked for the backdoor.

"What's he..." Lena watched, confused, until he opened the door and threw the plate out to the garden.

"And stay out!" he shouted just as a cat hissed.

"Hey! That's my cat!" Avalon ran for the door but Lena pulled her back.

"It's not your cat," she corrected Avalon. "You're not supposed to feed it, remember?"

Avalon shrugged her shoulders and returned her attention to the Doctor. "I'm going to kick you if you keep wasting Amelia's food. Pick something already!"

The Doctor went straight for the fridge to find himself the right snack. He went down to the freezer and started pulling some boxes out until he let out a small 'Aha!' and took out a fish fingers box. Then he took out a container of custard.

"Gross," Avalon declared the moment she saw both items.

But, this time, it was the right combination.

Later, the three girls and the Time Lord sat around the table eating respective snacks. While Amelia and Avalon had taken to ice cream, Lena preferred some cut up fruit. The Doctor was the first to finish with his snack, and he did it with style. He picked up the bowl his custard was in and drank the remainder all in one go. When he put his bowl down, he found Avalon, who sat closest to him, staring at him with a funny look on her face.

"You're kinda gross," she remarked with such ease he laughed. It was clear she hadn't grasped the kind, polite manners all humans seemed so strict on. He was happy for that.

"Here," Lena reached for a napkin and handed it to him, gesturing he had a left over custard mustache on his face.

"Do you know how to eat right?" Avalon tilted her head, one hand supporting her cheek. "Or do you just prefer to eat like that?"

"Avalon," Amelia made a gesture for her to quit asking questions like that.

"What?" Avalon blinked, clueless of the meaning behind Amelia's gestures.

"Avalon? Is that your name?" the Doctor called the girl's attention.

"Mhm! Avalon Reynolds!"

"Do you know what your name means?"

"Oh! I do!" she dropped her ice cream spoon and began to explain. "It's part of the Arthurian legend! It's this small island-" she gestured with her hands, "-where King Arthur's sword was made and then later where the King recovered from a battle!"

"You know your stuff," the Doctor blinked, truly impressed with her knowledge.

"I know everything about legends and fairytales," Avalon boasted happily.

"She does," Amelia playfully rolled her eyes.

"Everything?" the Doctor feigned some doubt, even though he knew it was impossible for her to know everything about the topic. But she seemed so passionate about it he didn't want to cut it short.

"Mhm! I love fairytales. Do you like them!?"

"Yes I do," the Doctor nodded. "Do you have a favorite?"

"Sleeping Beauty," groaned the other two girls.

"I love the story!" Avalon agreed. "I've read it a hundred times!"

"Just the modern ones I assume?"

Avalon's smile turned into a confused one. "What do you mean? What else am I supposed to read?"

"Well...you know...there are plenty of other versions..."

"But those are not nice," Avalon crinkled her nose. She was well aware that many of her preferred fairytales had bad origins and she was not interested in ruining her vision of them.

"No, I meant, like the Brothers Grimm? Do you know them?" the Doctor judged by the blank face Avalon had that she did not know anything. "Okay, well, see those are one of the original ones. But actually, they based their version of Sleeping Beauty on the original French version. " _La Belle au bois dormant"._

Avalon tried to repeat that in one go but proved to be more difficult. "La Belle wa...La Belle au...La Be..." she shook her head, her ginger curls dancing from the movement. "I can't say that!"

"Maybe with some practice you can," the Doctor tapped her nose, making her smile again. "But my advice is go back in time for these classic versions of your fairytales. They're beautiful and they deserve some recognition. I know you'd love them."

Avalon beamed at the suggestion, taking it to heart...not that the Doctor would know until many years later. "Okay! I will! I promise!"

"Great, now we'll have to hear more about the stories," Amelia muttered but heard Lena chuckling.

"And you two?" the Doctor called to them. "What are your names again?"

"Lena," the brunette girl responded softly. "Lena Reynolds."

"Oh...you're..." the Doctor pointed between her and Avalon.

"Twin sisters," went both.

"Fraternal, before you ask," Avalon added after a moment.

"And you?" the Doctor gave a look at Amelia.

"Amelia Pond."

"Ah, that's a brilliant name. Amelia Pond, like a name in a fairy tale. I can see why you're friends," the Doctor smiled at her and Avalon. "So then, where exactly are we? Scotland?" he gestured to Amelia due to her clear Scottish accent, "Or are we in England?" he then gestured to the two English twins.

"England," the twins responded.

"Rubbish," Amelia muttered.

"So what about your mum and dad, then?" the Doctor once again looked between the girls to find out whose house they were in. "Are they upstairs? Thought we'd have woken them by now."

"I don't have a mum and dad. Just an aunt," Amelia answered.

"I don't even have an aunt," the Doctor said.

"But you had a friend," Avalon remarked, not that the Doctor understood very well.

"So, your aunt. Where is she?" he asked Amelia.

"She's out."

Now surprised, the Doctor's eyes flickered from one girl to the next. "And she left all three of you alone?"

"We're not scared," Avalon boredly remarked as she dug her spoon into her ice cream. "Besides, she said she would be back soon."

"I can see you're not scared," the Doctor wanted to add 'especially you' but decided against it. "Box falls out of the sky, man falls out of box, man eats fish custard, and look at you all, just sitting there. So you know what I think?"

"What?" went Lena curiously.

"Must be a hell of a scary crack in your wall."

Avalon snorted, clearly against the idea as well. "I'm not scared," she repeated and stuck her spoon with ice cream into her mouth, giving a casual shrug while the Doctor smiled again.

~ 0 ~

The three girls stood by the doorway while the Doctor examined the long crack on Amelia's bedroom wall. "You've had some cowboys in here. Not actual cowboys, though that can happen."

Amelia tossed an apple in her hand. "I used to hate apples, so my mum put faces on them." She turned the apple over to reveal a carved smiley face on it.

The Doctor returned and took the apple, giving it a small toss in the air. "She sounds good, your mum. I'll keep it for later."

"Where would you keep it?" he heard Avalon mumble under her breath with full blown disapproval.

He went back to the wall and pulled his sonic screwdriver from his pocket. "This wall is solid and the crack doesn't go all the way through it. So here's a thing - where's the draught coming from?" he ran the sonic along the crack then pulled it away to read the results. "Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey. You know what the crack is?"

"Clearly we don't or else we wouldn't have asked," came Avalon's logical response.

"It's a crack," the Doctor began but Avalon once again cut in to make a remark.

"But that we clearly knew."

"Avalon!" Lena scolded, thinking her sister to be rude.

"I'm just saying," Avalon raised her hands. "Clearly we know that it's a crack so why does he have to say it? And of course we didn't know what the crack actually is or we wouldn't have asked him to come into the room and check it himself."

"Yeah, you want to be impressed then, Miss Reynolds?" the Doctor teasingly called.

"Mhm," the girl folded her arms and raised her head, trying to pretend to be far older and serious.

"Okay," the Doctor turned to the wall again and gently ran his fingers along the crack. "Here's something: if you knocked this wall down, the crack would stay put, 'cos the crack isn't in the wall. It's _everywhere_. It's everything. It's a split in the skin of the world. Two parts of space and time that should never have touched, pressed together...right here in the wall of this bedroom." He turned around to witness the clearly shocked look on Avalon's face.

"Woah..." she whispered.

"Impressed?"

With a wide smile, she nodded her head.

"Sometimes, can you hear…"

"A voice?" Amelia immediately guessed and hoped he would say yes. Often times when she told her aunt, she was cast off as delirious or childish.

"Yes," the Doctor nodded and pressed an ear to the wall. When he heard a slurred, echoing voice, he pulled back and walked to the night stand where a glass of water was placed at. He threw the water to the side and then used it to enhance his hearing on the wall.

 _Prisoner Zero has escaped._

"Prisoner Zero?" he repeated.

"Prisoner Zero has escaped," Amelia drew on her knowledge. "That's what I heard. What does it mean?"

 _Prisoner Zero has escaped._

The Doctor took a step backwards from the wall. "It means that, on the other side of this wall, there's a prison and they've lost a prisoner. Do you know what that means?"

"That it's _cool_?" Avalon was pretty much excited over the case unlike her sister and friend.

"Well yes, but...you also need a better wall," the Doctor pulled on the desk in his way and moved it to the side. "The only way to close the breach is to open it all the way. The forces will invert and it'll snap itself shut. Or..."

"Or what?" Lena narrowed her eyes a bit suspiciously. It all sounded too easy to fix what seemed like a big problem.

"You know when grown-ups tell you everything's going to be fine and you think they're probably lying to make you feel better?"

"Aha."

"Everything's going to be fine."

"Liar," Avalon playfully disapproved. "Can you fix the crack, then? For real?"

"I'm going to try right now," the Doctor promised. He faced the wall again and aimed the sonic at the crack. As it activated, the crack began to widen, filling the room with a bright light. Despite it being hard to look at, Avalon made an effort and caught what looked to be like cells on the other side. While the echoing voice grew louder and clearer, the Doctor hurried himself to get the crack to close.

"Ah!" Lena cried when a giant blue eyes peered through the crack. "Avalon!"

But Avalon was fascinated with what she saw. Even Amelia was curious of what exactly they were looking at.

A small ball of light shot through the crack and seemingly struck the Doctor. As he fell back against the bed, the crack sealed right up.

"What just happened!?" Lena fearfully asked, refusing to let go of her sister's hand. "Is it...is it gone!? Is it coming back!? Is it going to hurt us!?"

"Nah," the Doctor got up from his fall and viewed the wall without the crack. "See? Told you it would close. Good as new."

"But that thing..." Avalon's eyes were glued to the wall. "It kept saying something about a prisoner. Is its guard or something?"

"Whatever it was, it sent me a message," the Doctor turned around and pulled out the psychic paper for them to see. "Psychic paper, takes a lovely little message. 'Prisoner Zero has escaped'," he read off. "But why tell us? Unless..."

"Unless what?" Amelia saw the immediate change in the Doctor's face and frowned.

"Unless Prisoner Zero escaped through here. But he couldn't have. We'd know..." the Doctor wasn't quite sure he could stick with that statement and ran out of the room.

"But if he's here, then shouldn't we leave!?" Lena asked after they followed.

"It's difficult," the Doctor blinked rapidly, trying to get his mind to work with him. "Brand-new me, nothing works yet. But there's something I'm missing...in the corner..." he slowly turned, "...of my eye." He was interrupted by the sound of a bell clanging from outside.

"What is that?" Avalon came to the window to see what was making the noise.

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" the Doctor broke into a run and headed for the stairs.

"You can't run down the stairs!" Lena called out in vain from the rails.

"He's not gonna listen to rules," Avalon turned around and ran as well.

The Doctor came to an abrupt stop outside in the garden, just a couple of inches from the TARDIS. "I've got to get back in there! The engines are phasing, it's going to burn!"

"But...it's just a box!" Amelia eyed him a little like he was crazy.

"Boxes don't make those noises," Avalon said knowingly.

The Doctor worked fast to get the grappling hook and rope. "It's not a box. It's a time machine."

"What, a real one? You've got a real time machine?" Amelia's eyes looked from the Doctor to the box.

"Not for much longer if I can't get her stabilized. Five-minute hop into the future should do it," the Doctor looped the rope through the door handles.

Amelia looked at the twins beside her and then the Doctor, "Can I come?"

Avalon blinked at Amelia, "You want to go with a stranger?"

"Don't you do that all the time?" Amelia countered.

"It's different - they're not aliens!" Avalon snapped, a lot for a seven year old. "And besides, I know what I'm doing!"

Amelia rolled her eyes and looked at the Doctor for her answer.

"Not safe in here, not yet. Five minutes. Give me five minutes, I'll be right back," the Doctor hopped onto the edge and prepared to go inside.

"People always say that," Amelia frowned.

The Doctor jumped down to the ground and walked up to three girls, "Am I people? Do I even look like people? Trust me, I'm the Doctor."

"I do," Avalon said so automatically that the Doctor stopped and gave her a curious look. "I trust you'll come back."

"I'll be back in five minutes!" he promised and hurried up to the box. He climbed back and held onto the rope, giving the girls a smile before jumping in, "Geronimo!" the TARDIS doors slammed shut and the girls watched the box disappear.

Amelia dashed back to the house, going up to her room. Lena noticed the way Avalon was staring at the now empty space in the garden.

"Avalon, what are you thinking of?"

"That we actually just met the Doctor...and we let him go like that," Avalon shrugged.

"But...he said he'll come back, five minutes max."

"Mm," Avalon swayed her head. "If his box was malfunctioning...I think it might be a little more than five minutes."

Lena glanced back at the house, thinking of Amelia. "Should we tell Amelia?"

"Nah, she'll figure it out soon!" Avalon cheerily skipped back into the house.

~ 0 ~

The next time the TARDIS materialized back in Amelia's back-garden, it was fully daylight. The box's doors flung open as the Doctor emerged through billowing smoke, a cloth held over his nose and mouth, "Amelia! Avalon! Lena!" he ran towards the house, "I worked out what it was. I know what I was missing! You've got to get out of there!" he used the screwdriver on the locked door and finally got it open after a few tries.

~ 0 ~

A male nurse dressed in blue scrubs and a woman with medium-length ashy-brunette hair were following a second woman in a business suit down a hospital corridor into a ward room with two rows of unconscious patients. The second woman stopped in front of a patient, the brunette and male nurse beside her.

"So. They all called out at once, that's what you're saying?" the second woman asked, the pair beside her nodded, "All of them, all the coma patients," she flipped through the patient's file, "You do understand that these people are all comatose, don't you? They can't speak."

"Yes, Dr. Ramsden," the nurse nodded again.

"Then why are you wasting my time?"

"With all due respect, Dr. Ramsden, but I was with Rory when they called for you," the brunette spoke up with a soft voice.

"They called for _me_?" Dr. Ramsden raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, and I'm a witness," the brunette said.

Dr. Ramsden shook her head, she couldn't exactly take the woman's word as a plausible witness. Her condition probably made her a bit woozy and hallucinogenic.

"Doctor," the patient the trio stood in front of called softly, "Doctor."

The trio looked around as every other patient in the room called for the doctor...

~ 0 ~

The Doctor opened his eyes with a small groan, his head pounding for a second as his vision cleared up. Someone had hit him hard on the head at the staircase after he had come in searching for Amelia and her friends. He saw a female police officer dressed in a very short skirt speaking into her radio.

"White male, mid-20s, breaking and entering. Send me some back-up, I've got him restrained," she ended the conversation and looked at the Doctor, "Oi, you! Sit still."

"Cricket bat, I'm getting cricket bat..." he shook his head.

"You were breaking and entering."

The Doctor tried standing up only to realize he was hand-cuffed to the radiator behind him, "Well, that's much better. Brand-new me, whack on the head. Just what it needed."

"Do you want to shut up now? I've got back-up on the way!" the officer warned.

"Hang on, no, wait - you're a policewoman..." he had just realized that.

"And you're breaking and entering. You see how this works?"

"But what are you doing here? Where's Amelia? Avalon? Lena? Where are the girls?" he looked around frantically.

"Amelia Pond?"

"Yeah. Little Scottish girl. Where is she? I promised her and her friends five minutes but the engines were phasing. I suppose I must have gone a bit far. Has something happened to her?"

"Amelia Pond hasn't lived here in a long time."

"How long?"

"Six months."

"No, no, no! I can't be six months late! I said five minutes. I promised," the Doctor sniffed loudly for some reason, "Well, what about Avalon and Lena Reynolds? Where are they?"

"Not here," the officer eyed him as she walked away and reached for her radio.

"What happened to them?" he demanded, "What happened to Amelia Pond? Where are Avalon and Lena Reynolds? If they're not here then where are they?"

The officer ignored him and spoke into her radio, "Sarge, it's me again. Hurry it up, this guy knows something about Amelia Pond."

The Doctor tried the handcuffs again and sighed deeply when he saw it was no use. His eyes looked past the officer to the door from before, something was in there and that poor officer had no idea...

~ 0 ~

Dr. Ramsden was examining the first patient that had spoken, "I don't think they were even conscious..." she remarked.

"Dr Ramsden, there is another sort of, um, funny thing," the nurse, Rory, spoke up again.

"Yes, I know. Dr. Carver told me about your conversation. We've been very patient with you, Rory. You're a good enough nurse, but for God's sake!"

"I've seen them," he insisted.

"These patients are under 24-hour supervision! We know if their blood-pressure changes. There's no possibility you'd have seen them wandering in the village! Why are you giving me your phone?!"

Rory was holding out his phone to her, "It's a camera too."

"Is your friend going to back you up on this one too?" she eyed the brunette who just remained quiet at the accusation. Dr. Ramsden reached for Rory's phone when her paper beeped and so she took it out instead, "You need to take some time off, Rory. A lot of time off. Start now," Rory opened his mouth to argue but she cut him off, "Now!"

Rory nodded and turned to the brunette who offered a comforting smile, "I'm sorry Rory," she whispered as they walked out.

~ 0 ~

"I need to speak to whoever lives in this house now," the Doctor repeated for the third time to the officer.

" _I_ live here," she finally spoke to him again.

"But you're the police."

"Yes, and this is where I live. You got a problem with that?!"

"How many rooms?" he asked, deciding it was best to change the subject to get back to business.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"On this floor. How many rooms on this floor? Count them for me now."

"Why?"

"Because it will change your life."

"Five," the officer pointed to each door as she counted, "One, two, three, four, five."

"Six," he corrected, surprising her.

"Six?"

"Look."

"Look where?"

"Exactly where you don't want to look. Where you never want to look, the corner of your eye. Look behind you."

The officer slowly turned and saw the door that had definitely _not_ been there for her a moment ago, "That's... That is not possible. How's that possible?"

"There's a perception filter round the door. Sensed it the last time I was here. Should've seen it."

"But that's a whole room. That's a whole room I've never even noticed..."

"The filter stops you. Something came a while ago to hide. It's still hiding. You need to uncuff me now!" the Doctor ordered but the officer was in a trance as she walked for the door at the end of the hall.

"I don't have the key. I lost it."

"How can you have lost it?! Stay away from that door!" he called but she kept going, "Do not touch that door!" she put her hand on the doorknob, "Listen to me! Do not open that..." she turned the knob, "Why does no-one ever listen to me? Do I just have a face that nobody listens to?" she entered the room, "Again...?" the Doctor searched his pockets frantically, "My screwdriver, where is it?"

The officer entered the room which was dusty and contained only old boxes on the floor. There were water damage spots on the walls, barely a scrap of curtain on the window and a table in the center of the room.

"Silver thing, blue at the end. Where did it go?"

"There's nothing here," the officer remarked as she carefully looked around.

"Whatever's there stopped you seeing the whole room," the Doctor called, "What makes you think you could see it? Now, please, just get out!" the Doctor ordered, sighing when the woman wouldn't listen.

"Silver, blue at the end?" she spotted said silver thing on the table in front of her.

"My screwdriver, yeah."

"It's here."

"Must have rolled under the door..." the Doctor shut his eyes at the bad luck he seemed to have even in this new incarnation.

"Yeah. Must have. And then it must have jumped up on the table..."

"Get out of there!" the Doctor shouted, "Get out of there!" but the officer reached to pick up the screwdriver, "Get out!"

The officer backed away suddenly when she thought she heard something. Behind her was an eel-like alien that hung from the roof. It was covered in goo and had a mouth full of sharp teeth. The officer looked one way and then the other but saw nothing.

"What is it? What are you doing?" the Doctor called, frustrated he was still cuffed.

"There's nothing here, but..."

"Corner of your eye."

"What is it?"

"Don't try to see it. If it knows you've seen it, it will kill you. Don't look at it," the Doctor said as the creature seemed to toy with the woman, "Do not... look."

And then she saw it...

The officer screamed, "Get out!" the Doctor ordered, the officer ran out of the room, "Give me that!" he snatched his screwdriver from her hand and used it on the door's lock before using it on his handcuffs, however it didn't work on his hand cuffs, "What's the bad alien done to you?"

"Will that door hold it?" the officer looked at the door with wide eyes.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, course! It's an inter-dimensional multi-form from outer-space - they're all terrified of wood," the Doctor rolled his eyes as he tried figuring out the screwdriver.

A bright light flashed around the edges of the door, "What's that? What's it doing?"

The Doctor wiped his screwdriver with his finger, "I don't know, getting dressed? Run. Just go. Your back-up's coming, I'll be fine."

"There is no back-up."

He looked up, surprised, "I heard you on the radio, you called for back-up."

"I was pretending. It's a _pretend_ radio," the officer looked at him with a 'duh' look.

"You're a policewoman!"

"I'm a kissogram!" she removed her hat and let ginger hair cascade down her back.

At the same time, the door burst open and a man in blue-overalls holding the leash of a large Rottweiler stood at the doorway...the same man who was a patient at the hospital.

"But it's just..." the officer remarked as the man stepped out into the hallway.

"No, it isn't. Look at the faces," the Doctor instructed.

The man growled and barks while his dog remained impassive.

"What? I'm sorry, but what?" the officer looked down at the Doctor, completely shocked.

"It's all one creature. One creature disguised as two. Clever old multi-form. A bit of a rush job, though. Got the voice a bit muddled, did you? Mind you, where did you get the pattern from? You'd need a psychic link, a live feed. How did you fix that?" the Doctor questioned, the man only snarled back and advanced, showing its pointy teeth, "Stay, boy!" the creature stopped, "Her and me, we're safe. Want to know why? She sent for back-up."

"I didn't send for back-up!" the officer reminded.

"I know, that was a clever lie to save our lives," he whisper-shouted at her then looked at the creature again, "OK, yeah, no back-up! And that's why we're safe. Alone, we're not a threat to you. If we _had_ back-up, then you'd have to kill us!"

 _"Attention, Prisoner Zero. The human residence is surrounded. Attention Prisoner Zero. The human residence is surrounded."_

"What's that?" the woman asked and looked around.

"That would be back-up," he answered her, "OK, one more time. We do have back-up and that's definitely why we're safe," he said to the creature.

 _"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated."_

"Well, safe apart from, you know, incineration..."

The creature turned into one of the other rooms. The Doctor banged his screwdriver on the floor in the hopes it would work again, "Work, work, work. C'mon."

The creature had gone out to one of the windows and looked outside.

The Doctor finally got his screwdriver to work and used it on the handcuffs, "Run!" he said to the woman as he jumped to his feet, "Run!" he pushed her towards the stairs and quickly made their way down.

They ran outside of the house where the Doctor used the screwdriver on the door, "Kissogram?" he asked her.

"Yes!"

"Why'd you pretend to be a policewoman?" he stood straight.

"You broke into my house! It was this or a French maid!" she followed him away from the house, "What's going on? Tell me! Tell me!"

The Doctor had gone up to the TARDIS, "An alien convict is hiding in your spare room disguised as a man and a dog, and some other aliens are about to incinerate your house. Any questions?"

"Yes!"

"Me too," the TARDIS wasn't opening up for some reason, "No, no, don't do that, not now! It's still rebuilding, not letting us in!"

 _Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated._

"Come on," the officer grabbed the Doctor by the arm, deciding they were not going to be able to enter that small box.

"No, wait, hang on, wait, wait, wait. The shed," he ran up to the garden shed and examined as it as much as he could, "I destroyed that shed last time I was here, smashed it to pieces."

"So there's a new one. Let's go," the officer gestured again, becoming nervous.

"But the new one's got old. It's ten years old at least," he sniffed the wood before rubbing his finger on the wood and tasting it, "12 years," he concluded and turned back to the woman with newfound anger, "I'm not six months late, I'm _twelve years_ late!"

"He's coming!" the woman's eyes flickered to the house.

"You said six months. Why did you say six months?"

"We've got to go!"

"This matters. This is important. Why did you say six months?"

"Why did you say five minutes?!" the officer snapped, blinking when she realized what she said.

"What?" the Doctor's mouth nearly fell open.

"Come on," she insisted.

"What!?"

"Come on!" she pulled him by the arm.

"What?" was all the Doctor could muster up as he was pulled away by a grown up Amelia Pond.

~ 0 ~

"You're Amelia," the Doctor stopped in the roadway and faced the ginger woman.

Amelia kept walking however, 'You're late!"

"Amelia Pond, you were one of the little girls!" the Doctor looked her up and down in disbelief.

"I'm Amelia and you're late."

"What happened?" he asked frantically.

If Amelia Pond was grown up...then what about the little Reynolds twins?

"12 years," Amelia reminded.

"You hit me with a cricket bat," he frowned, recalling that pain.

"12 years."

"A cricket bat!"

"12 years and four psychiatrists," Amelia crossed her arms and almost pouted.

Out of her, Avalon and Lena, _she_ was the one who people deemed crazy when they spoke about the Doctor. Her aunt never believed her when she said the Doctor had been there at her sleep over. And, because of who Avalon turned out to be as the years went by no one really believed her either. Lena's illness had only gotten worse throughout the years and so they all blamed it as a hallucination or a very realistic dream. But neither of the Reynolds twins ever insisted like Amelia did. For some reason, the Reynolds twins hardly spoke about the night with anyone. But Amy wouldn't let the man go and so had been brought to numerous doctors and four psychiatrists to help her with her "condition".

" _Four_?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow.

"I kept biting them," Amelia mumbled.

"Why?"

"They said you weren't real."

"Alright, and what happened to Avalon and Lena, then? Where are they?" he asked as they entered the park.

Amelia sighed, "Lena? She's with Rory...and Avalon, well...probably running."

"Running? From what?"

Amelia looked away, preferring not to get into that whole matter. Avalon, while still very protective of her sister, had a very...tetchy attitude that got her into some issues often...

 _"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated,_ " the same voice from the crack now boomed over the speakers of an ice-cream van.

Amelia quickly jumped for the distraction, "No, no, no, come on… What? We're being staked out by an ice-cream van?" she ran towards it, leaving a very confused Doctor behind.

~ 0 ~

A woman with dark, ginger locks entered a pharmacy and walked straight towards the counter, her boot's heels clicking after her. She wore a pink sweater vest with a white buttoned-up blouse underneath, its white collars sticking over the vest. She accompanied it with white jeans and knee-length brown boots with small heals. Her icy-blue eyes looked around the place, her hand resting over the opening of her purse.

"Miss Reynolds, what can I do for you?" one of the pharmacists moved to help her.

"Tasha, I need a refill for the inhaler - actually we need a _new_ inhaler."

"What happened to the last one?" Tasha raised an eyebrow.

"I may have broken it," the ginger mumbled.

"Avalon, how do you break an inhaler?"

Avalon Reynolds groaned, thinking it was obvious the only way she could break it. "Clearly on accident! Please, can I get a new one?"

"I'm sorry but the insurance doesn't cover a second one."

"Tasha please, I need it. I'm talking life or death, here!"

"I know, and I'm sorry," Tasha sighed, "Look, the inhaler would cost-"

"Whatever amount you're gonna say, I don't have it," Avalon leaned over the counter. "I need to replace it before Lena needs it. Can I just...I don't know...put it on...layover or something?"

"It doesn't work that way," Tasha shook her head with a sad smile and walked away to help another customer.

Avalon frowned and looked down at the clear counter. "I'm getting the inhaler," she mumbled, eyes scanning for the correct inhaler.

~ 0 ~

"What's that? Why are you playing that?" the Doctor demanded from the ice-cream driver.

"It's supposed to be Claire De Lune," the vendor replied, sounding confused as he switched, or tried to anyways, stations.

The Doctor picked up the player and listened, " _Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated. Repeat, Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated._ "

The Doctor stepped away from the van and noticed the voice emerging from other technology people around them carried.

"Doctor, what's happening?" Amelia asked. The Doctor leaped over a low white fence into a front garden, leaving Amelia to run after him.

The Doctor entered the house where an elderly woman was watching the television. There was a blue eye that filled the screen that wouldn't disappear as much as the woman tried flipping channels.

"Hello! Sorry to burst in, we're doing a special on television faults in this area," the Doctor said then looked at Amelia, recalling her outfit for the day, "Also, crimes. Let's have a look," he took the remote from the old woman.

"I was just about to phone. It's on every channel," the woman saw Amelia and smiled. "Hello, Amy, dear. Are you a policewoman now?'

"Well, sometimes."

"I thought you were a nurse."

"I can be a nurse," Amelia shrugged, tugging her skirt lower.

"Or, actually, a nun."

"I dabble."

"Amy, who is your friend?" the women looked at the Doctor, confused.

"Who's Amy? You were Amelia," the Doctor frowned.

"Yeah, now I'm Amy," the ginger crossed her arms.

"Amelia Pond - that was a great name," he insisted, "All three of you had excellent, fairy-tale, names!"

"I don't like fairy tales and Lena doesn't believe in them," she reminded.

"I know you, don't I? I've seen you somewhere before," the old women studied the Doctor.

"Not me. Brand-new face..." he pointed a finger at himself, "First time on," he then turned for Amy, "And what sort of job's a kissogram?"

"I go to parties and I kiss people," Amy cleared her throat, "With outfits. It's a laugh."

"You were a little girl five minutes ago," the Doctor frowned. The little girl from five minutes ago was now _kissing_ people?

"You're worse than my aunt," Amy said.

"I'm the Doctor, I'm worse than everybody's aunt," he quickly pointed at the elderly woman, "And that is not how I'm introducing myself," he picked up a radio and used the screwdriver on it. The same message was repeated on it in different languages, "OK, so it's everywhere, in every language. They're broadcasting to the whole world," he moved to the window and opened it up to look out.

"What's up there? What are you looking for?" Amy looked from behind, seeing nothing but a blue sky and white clouds above.

"OK, planet this size, two poles, your basic molten core...they're going to need a 40% fission blast," the Doctor turned to them as a young man entered the house, the Doctor walking up to him as he continued to talk, " But they'll have to power up first, won't they? So assuming a medium-sized starship, that's 20 minutes," the Doctor had to stand on his toes due to the man's taller statute, "What do you think, 20 minutes? Yeah, 20 minutes. We've got 20 minutes."

"20 minutes to what?" Amy asked.

"Are you the Doctor?" the man was a bit confused with all the eyeing, "He is, isn't he? He's the Doctor! The Raggedy Doctor. All those cartoons you did when you were little. The Raggedy Doctor, it's him," he looked at Amy.

"I know," Amy nodded.

"Cartoons?" the Doctor asked, bemused as he sat on the couch.

"Gran, it's him, isn't it? It's really him!"

"Jeff, shut up!" Amy snapped then looked at the Doctor, "20 minutes to what?"

The Doctor was flipping through the channels of the television again, the eye with its message on all of them,"The human residence. They're not talking about your house, they're talking about the _planet_. Somewhere up there, there's a spaceship and it's going to incinerate the planet. 20 minutes to the end of the world."

~ 0 ~

The same message was being heard in the pharmacy where Avalon was still in. She took a good look around and saw everyone distracted. In one quick, swift move, she jumped over the counter and reached for the inhaler from the other side.

"Hey!" Tasha exclaimed when she saw what was going on.

"I'm sorry, but it's for my sister!" the ginger hopped off the counter and dashed out of the pharmacy.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor and Amy were now walking down the roadway again, "What is this place? Where am I?" the Doctor eyed the small town.

"Leadworth," Amy replied.

"Where's the rest of it?"

"This is it."

"Is there an airport?"

"No."

"A nuclear power station?"

"No."

"Even a little one?"

"No."

"Nearest city?"

"Gloucester, half an hour by car."

"We don't have half an hour," the Doctor groaned. "Do we have a car?"

"...no."

"Well, that's good! Fantastic, that is. 20 minutes to save the world and I've got a post office. And it's shut! _What_ is that?" the Doctor violently pointed at a small pond.

"It's a duck pond," Amy followed him up to the pond.

"Why aren't there any ducks?"

Amy groaned, "Not you too," he looked back at her with a questioning look. She sighed, "Avalon asks the same thing."

"She was one smart cookie," he smiled, "She's right to ask cos if it doesn't have any ducks..."

"...then how do we know it's a duck pond?" Amy finished with a roll of her eyes, "Yeah, I know. She asks that and it frankly gets on my nerves."

The Doctor was about to remark on that when he had another regeneration tremor that made him sit down and clutch his chest, "I'm not ready, I'm not done yet."

The sky darkened up and made both look up.

"What's happening? Why's it going dark?" Amy frowned as the sun turned gray, "So what's wrong with the sun?"

"Nothing. You're looking at it through a force-field. They've sealed off your upper atmosphere, now they're getting ready to boil the plane," the Doctor stood up and looked at the field where all the villagers were taking pictures of the sun, "Oh, and here they come, the human race. The end comes, as it was always going to - down a video phone!"

"This isn't real, is it? This is some kind of big wind-up," Amy frowned.

"Why would I wind you up?"

"You told me you had a time machine."

"And you believed me."

"Then I grew up."

The Doctor groaned, "Oh, you never want to do that. No, hang on, shut up, wait! I missed it," he smacked his forehead suddenly, startling Amy, "I saw it and I missed it," and another smack, "What did I see? I saw... What did I see?" he focused real hard until he figured out what he had missed and turned to Rory, "20 minutes. I can do it. 20 minutes, the planet burns. Run to your loved ones and say goodbye, or stay and help me."

"No," Amy said instead.

"I'm sorry?"

"No!" she grabbed him by the tie and pushed him against a car as the driver stepped out. She slammed his tie into the door and locked the car with the remote.

"Amy! No! No! What are you doing? Are you out of your mind?"

"Who are you?" she demanded from him.

"You know who I am."

"No, really, who are you?"

"Look at the sky! End of the world, 20 minutes," he reminded, pointing up to the

sky.

"Better talk quickly, then!"

"Amy, I am going to need my car back," the driver had remained at her side.

"Yes, in a bit. Now go and have coffee," Amy shooed him off.

The Doctor reached inside his pocket and tossed the apple to her, "Catch," Amy caught it and saw the same smile face carved onto it, "I'm the Doctor. I'm a time traveller. Everything I told you, Avalon and Lena, 12 years ago is true. I'm real. What's happening in the sky is real, and if you don't let me go now, everything you've ever known is over."

"I don't believe you..."

He gripped her wrist, "Just 20 minutes. Just believe me for 20 minutes. Look at it. Fresh as the day you gave it to me. And you know it's the same one," Amy studied the apple for a second and looked up at him, "Amy, believe for 20 minutes."

Amy unlocked the car door, "What do we do?"

"What do we do?"

"Stop that nurse!" the Doctor ran for Rory the nurse.

~ 0 ~

"Where is she, Rory?" Avalon was now standing beside Rory Williams, her best friend, losing her patience as the man continued to take a picture of another man with his dog.

"I sent her to Amy's," Rory replied as he went for another picture. "I thought you would be there. And..." his eyes had caught something in Avalon's hand, "...what's that-" but he couldn't finish due to the fact the Doctor had ran over to them and snatched his cellphone from his hand.

"The sun's going out, and you're photographing a man and a dog. Why?" he stood right in front of Rory who could only blink at the moment.

"Oh my god..." Avalon blinked and turned the Doctor around, a smile spreading across her face. "It's _you_..."

"Amy?" Rory frowned as Amy caught up to them.

"What do we have here?" Avalon asked the Doctor, the man severely confused as she eyed him up and down. "I thought you were gonna be late, honestly, but not by this much!"

"Who are you?" the Doctor frowned.

She smirked. "The Arthurian Legend...the island where King Arthur's sword was made..."

The Doctor's eyes widened as he realized who the second ginger was. "A-Avalon?"

"Hello, fairy tale man," she chuckled, "You're late! You know poor Amy's had to go to four psychiatrists because of you?"

"What? Hold on, what did you call me?"

"Well, I told her not to talk about you but he didn't want to listen-"

"Avalon," Amy crossed her arms and sent her friend a mock-glare.

"Right, what's done is done," Avalon shrugged her shoulders.

"Uh, hello, back to business? Twenty minutes?" Amy reminded.

"Oh, right, yes!" the Doctor turned back to Rory.

"This is Rory, he's a...friend..."

"Amy," Avalon frowned at the introduction. She wasn't surprised by it, but it didn't mean she was letting it go either.

" _Boyfriend_ ," Rory corrected.

"Kind of boyfriend."

"Amy!" Rory exclaimed, a bit hurt that _that_ was his title all of a sudden.

"Man and dog, why?" the Doctor had ignored everything and kept a fixated look on Rory.

"Oh, my God, it's him..." Rory blinked, finally settling in.

"Just answer his question, please," Amy said.

"It's him, though. The Doctor. The Raggedy Doctor."

Avalon teasingly laughed, "Yeah, that's him. Is that the only pair of clothes you own?" she asked the Doctor.

"Shush up," he snapped, covering her mouth. Avalon made a gesture with both hands.

"But he was a story. He was a game!" Rory exclaimed.

"Ouch!" the Doctor jumped to the side, rubbing his palm while he stared in shock at Avalon, "Did you just _bite_ me?"

"I can do more than that but I don't know you like that yet," she winked, making him immediately blush.

The fact she had even added the 'yet' in the end made it even more blush-worthy. He shook his head, though, when he remembered the planet was literally twenty minutes away from blowing up. "Man and dog," he sighed and looked at Rory, trying to ignore the pounding pain in his palm, "Why?"

"Because he can't be there. Because he's…" Rory began but the Doctor had finished with him in unison, "...in a hospital, in a coma."

"Yeah," Rory nodded.

"Okay that's weird," Avalon remarked.

"Lena is a witness," Rory lightly snapped, "She was with me when they started talking."

"Knew it. Multi-form, you see? Disguise itself as anything, but it needs a live feed, a psychic link with a living but dormant mind," the Doctor explained.

The multiform snapped and snarled at the group, "Prisoner Zero," the Doctor turned to face it.

"That stupid thing that gave my sister nightmares?" Avalon's eyes narrowed as she stepped forwards, "She couldn't sleep for a week after that sleep over. Oh, I'm gonna kill it..."

"No you're not," the Doctor grabbed her arm and restrained her.

An electrical buzz emerged from above and they looked up to see a spaceship flying over them, the same eye swiveling back and forth.

"What the hell is that?" Avalon frowned.

The Doctor slipped his screwdriver from his pocket and pointed it up, "See, that ship up there is scanning this area for non-terrestrial technology. And nothing says non-terrestrial like a sonic screwdriver," he flicked it on and caused chaos to shatter the village, "I think someone's going to notice, don't you?" Prisoner Zero barked as the Doctor lowered the screwdriver and aimed it at the phone box ahead which exploded. However, the screwdriver sparked and fuzzled which made the Doctor drop it to the ground, "No, no, no, don't do that!" and then the ship flew away.

"It's going," Avalon pointed.

"No, come back, he's here! Come back! He's here, Prisoner Zero is here. Come back, he's here! Prisoner Zero is..."

But Prisoner Zero turned into mist and escaped down the drain.

"Doctor! The drain. It just sort of melted and went down the drain!" Amy exclaimed.

"Well, of course it did," the Doctor sighed.

"So what do we do now?" Avalon questioned.

"It's hiding in human form. We need to drive it into the open. No TARDIS, no screwdriver, 17 minutes. Come on, think. Think!"

He ran up to the drain and was followed by the trio, "So that thing - _that_ hid in my house for 12 years?" Amy asked as she looked down at the drain.

"Multi-forms can live for millennia. 12 years is a pit-stop."

"So how come you show up again on the same day that lot do? The same minute?"

"They're looking for him, but followed me. They saw me through the crack, got a fix. They're only late cos I am."

"And boy are you late," Avalon shook her head, "I was a bit curious myself to see what was inside that box," she admitted.

"Now, sport, give me your phone," the Doctor turned to Rory.

"How can he be real? He was never real," Rory was still in denial but the Doctor didn't care.

"Phone, now, give me!"

Rory handed the phone to the Doctor just to get him to stop shouting. "He was just a game. We were kids. You made me dress up as him," he said to Amy.

"That was a funny time," Avalon said, "I have lots of pictures if you're interested."

"I told you to delete them!" Rory frowned.

"I have many copies..."

"Avalon!"

The Doctor was looking through the pictures on Rory's phone, "These are all coma patients?"

"Yeah."

"No, they're all the multi-form. Eight comas, eight disguises for Prisoner Zero."

"He had a dog, though. There's a dog in a coma?"

"The coma patient dreams he's walking a dog, Prisoner Zero gets a dog. Laptop!" the Doctor pointed at Amy who took with wide eyes. "Your friend, what was his name? Not him-" he nodded to Rory, "-the good-looking one."

"Oi, you're _still_ rude," Avalon shook her head.

"Jeff," Amy corrected him, not even the slightest bit upset with the Doctor's behavior.

"Oh, thanks," Rory mock-glared at her.

"He had a laptop in his bag, a laptop. Big bag, big laptop, I need Jeff's laptop-"

"Why are you holding an inhaler?" Amy suddenly realized that Avalon had been holding an inhaler in her hand the whole time. But it looked more like she was trying to hide it under her fingers. "You don't have asthma."

"I know but I needed it so I bought it."

Rory's eyes flickered from the inhaler to Avalon with a mighty suspicious look. "Ava..."

"Rory..."

" _Avalon_ ," Rory tilted his head, the sharper look on his face making Avalon sigh.

"Fine, I took it. But in my defence-"

"No! No defences! We know those don't work! You don't steal, period!"

"But it was for a good cause-"

"Stealing is _never_ for a good cause," the Doctor frowned, his voice dark.

"Oh shut up, you don't understand my life, got it?" Avalon pushed past him and started to run.

"Avalon!" Rory called.

"You two, get to the hospital, get everyone out, clear the whole floor. Phone me when you're done," the Doctor instructed the remaining two, "I'll catch up to her."

~ 0 ~

"Avalon, wait!" the Doctor called after the ginger, "Avalon!"

"Leave me alone, stupid man!" she shouted.

"Oh," he let out a sound of annoyance as he turned her around, "Five minutes ago I was the fairy tale man. What happened to that?" A brief smile flickered on Avalon's face. "We have a world to save in less than twenty minutes and I need all the help I can get."

"Loved to help, but I can't," Avalon turned around to continue walking. The Doctor, momentarily surprised, reeled her back. "Doctor! I have to find my sister and my brother!"

"You have a brother?"

"Mhm. His name's Gavin. And he needs me because my Dad is working, alright? I gotta go-"

"N-n-n-no wait!" the Doctor brought her back again. "I'm sure he's fine, Mum's probably taking care of him-"

"My mum's dead," Avalon revealed in a quiet voice, all emotion lost all of a sudden.

The Doctor blinked, not having expected that one, "Oh...I'm sorry..." he whispered.

"It was a couple years back," she rubbed away a small tear on the side of left eye.

"Sorry," the Doctor couldn't really figure out what else to say.

"Yeah," she heaved a sigh, "It was hard," she walked around him.

He raised an eyebrow, confused by her... _lack_ of emotion? This was her mother they were talking about. He didn't want for her to cry but the way she acted was a bit cold and blank, like it hadn't affected her. He trailed after her, "Avalon? Where are you going?"

"Well, the police is sort of after me and you need a laptop, right?" Avalon looked back, her arms crossed, "C'mon, then."

"And your brother?"

"Well, let's be honest, he'll probably be more scared if the cops come by my house instead. So, c'mon!"

~ 0 ~

Jeff was laying on his bed using his laptop when the Doctor and Avalon burst inside the room, "Hello. Laptop, give me!" the Doctor wiggled his hands as he walked up to Jeff.

"Sorry about that, he's still rude," Avalon shook her head.

"And you're apparently a thief," the Doctor shot back, not too sure if he was playing or really upset that the little girl who was in love with fairy tales...grew up to be a _thief_?

"No, no, no, no, wait, hang on!" Jeff was refusing to give up his laptop.

"It's fine, give it here," the Doctor finally snatched the laptop and sat at the foot of the bed. "Blimey! Get a girlfriend, Jeff."

"We've talked about this, Jeff," Avalon sighed and sat down beside the Doctor.

Jeff's grandmother entered the room, surprised to find the strange man again with her grandson, and now with Avalon, "What's going on here?"

"The sun's gone wibbly, so right now, somewhere out there, there's going to be a big video conference call," the Doctor replied casually as he typed, "All the experts in the world panicking at once, and do you know what they need? _Me_."

Avalon's lips curled into an amused smile. "Well, now I know."

"Know what?" the Doctor stopped for a second to look at her.

"Oh that you don't know the definition of 'modesty'."

Frowning, the Doctor returned to the computer. "Ah, and here they all are. All the big boys. NASA, Jodrell Bank, Tokyo Space Centre, Patrick Moore."

"Ooh, I like Patrick Moore," Jeff's grandmother smiled.

"I'll get you his number, but watch him, he's a devil."

"You can't just hack in on a call like that," Avalon told the Doctor, "Even I don't do that."

"Cos then you're Dad would really blow his head off," Jeff muttered, Avalon shooting him a death glare.

"You shouldn't be doing any of that stuff," the Doctor mumbled. He held up his psychic paper to the webcam as the experts appeared on the laptop screen.

"Who are you? This is a secure call. What are you doing?" one of the men on the screen inquired.

"Hello. I know, you should switch me off. But before you do, watch this." The Doctor cracked his fingers and began typing anew, this time quicker to match his speedy ramble. "Fermat's Theorem, the proof, and I mean the real one, never seen before. Poor old Fermat, got killed in a duel before he could write it down. My fault, I slept in. Oh, and here's an oldie but a goodie - why electrons have mass. And a personal favorite of mine, faster-than-light travel with two diagrams and a joke. Look at your screens," the Doctor raised his hands, the biggest smirk possible sitting on his face. "Whoever I am, I'm a genius. Look at the sun. You need all the help you can get. Fellas, pay attention."

Avalon blinked, fascinated to see the Doctor in a whole new light. It was one thing learning and reading on him, but it was a completely different thing to see him in action. She _loved_ seeing it in real life.

~ 0 ~

"Sir, what are you doing?" an expert asked the Doctor while he typed away on Rory's cellphone. Much time had passed and apparently they were nearing the solution.

"I'm writing a computer virus," the Doctor responded. "Very clever, super-fast, and a tiny bit alive, but don't let on. Why am I writing it on a phone? Never mind, you'll find out. OK, I'm sending this to all your computers. Get everyone who works for you sending this everywhere. Email, text, Facebook, Bebo, Twitter, radar dish - whatever you've got. Any questions?"

"Who was your lady friend?" Patrick Moore asked, even trying to peer around his screen.

"Patrick, behave!"

 **"** What does this virus do?" another expert asked.

"It's a reset command, that's all. It resets counters, it gets in the wifi and resets every counter it can find. Clocks, calendars, anything with a chip will default at zero at exactly the same time. But, yeah, I could be lying, why should you trust me? I'll let my best man explain."

Avalon sighed dramatically when Jeff failed to speak up. "He means you, you idiot."

"What?"

The Doctor closed the laptop midway and glanced at Jeff. "Listen to me. In ten minutes, you're going to be a legend. In ten minutes, everyone on that screen is going to be offering you any job you want. But first, you have to be magnificent. You have to make them trust you and get them working. This is it, Jeff. Right here, right now. This is when you fly. Today's the day you save the world."

"Why me?"

"It's your bedroom. Now go, go, go!" the Doctor jumped off the bed and pulled Avalon with him.

"What? I'm coming?" Avalon looked around with surprise, "I can't leave! The police is looking for me!"

"Oh trust me, they'll be a bit too busy trying to figure out what the hell is going on," the Doctor shrugged and pulled her towards the door, "Oh and Jeff, delete your internet history."

"As if," Avalon snorted as they came outside. The Doctor zoomed past her into the street to start looking for some way to get to the hospital. When Avalon caught up, all she found was the Time Lord cluelessly turning one way and another. "Okay, what are you doing?"

"Looking for a car, isn't it obvious?"

"Not when you look like that," Avalon shook her head. "Clearly, you've never hijacked anything, have you?"

The Doctor stopped and turned to her, a smirk playing at the corner of his lips. "Oh, you don't even know."

Avalon matched his smirk for a second then ran down the street. "C'mon!"

"What, hold on, you're not going to steal something more are you?" the Doctor went after her.

~ 0 ~

Rory finished up talking to a nurse in the hospital and rejoined Amy who was on her phone, "Something's happened up there, we can't get through."

Amy redialed in frustration, "Yes, but what's happened?"

"I don't know. No-one knows. Phone him."

"I'm phoning him," she reminded and gasped when the line was finally picked up, "Doctor? We're at the hospital, but we can't get through."

"What did he say?" Rory impatiently waited.

"Look in the mirror," Amy turned to a mirror behind her and saw her reflection, "Ha-ha! Uniform!" she tied her hair up, "Are you on your way? You're going to need a car."

~ 0 ~

The Doctor drove a firefighter truck while Avalon held the phone, sitting in the passenger seat, "Don't worry, you know how good I am at acquiring things," she smirked.

"We're going to need to talk about that," the Doctor pointed.

She rolled her eyes, "Drive, fairy-tale man."

~ 0 ~

Amy and Rory ran out of the hospital lift and saw the corridors ahead of them were a complete mess. There were gurneys and tables turned over with scrubs and utensils sprawled all over.

"What happened?" Amy asked a nearby woman.

"There was a man. A man with a dog. I think Dr. Ramsden's dead. And the nurses," the woman replied fearfully.

~ 0 ~

"The Doctor asks if you're in?" Avalon held the phone and spoke to Amy again.

"Yep. But so's Prisoner Zero."

"You need to get out of there!" the Doctor called from his seat.

~ 0 ~

Rory turned to the woman and...noticed that the woman's voice was now coming out of one of the little girls she held hands with, "He was so angry. He kept shouting. And that dog, the size of that dog, I swear it was rabid.," Amy and Rory started backing away, "And he just went mad, attacking everyone. Where did he go, did you see? Has he gone? We hid in the ladies'..." the woman trailed off, "Oh, I'm getting it wrong again, aren't I? I'm always doing that. So many mouths..." the woman opened her mouth to reveal the sharp teeth, the little girls holding her hands following in suit.

~ 0 ~

"Amy? Amy, what's happening?" Avalon repeatedly asked, hearing odd voices from the other line.

"We're in the coma ward. But it's here, it's getting in," Amy spoke, she and Rory backing away from the door of the ward that was shut with a broom through its handles.

"Which window are you at?" the Doctor called.

"How is that important?" Amy heard Avalon snap.

"Just tell me!"

"Uh, uh," Amy looked around, "First floor on the left, fourth from the end."

Prisoner Zero broke through the door, still disguised as the woman, "Oh, dear. Little Amelia Pond. I've watched you grow up. 12 years, and you never even knew I was there. Little Amelia Pond, waiting for her magic Doctor to return, but not this time, Amelia," she opened her mouth.

Amy's phone beeped and showed a message from the Doctor reading 'Duck!". Amy then heard the sirens nearing and pushed Rory down in time as a ladder broke through the window. The Doctor and Avalon climbed up the ladder and jumped inside the room.

"Right! Hello! Am I late? No, three minutes to go. So still time," the Doctor exclaimed.

"That's a first, you're on time," Avalon remarked.

"Time for what, Time Lord?" Prisoner Zero asked, smirking.

"Take the disguise off. They'll find you in a heartbeat. Nobody dies," the Doctor ordered.

"The Atraxi will kill me this time. If I am to die, let there be fire."

"OK. You came to this world by opening a crack in space and time. Do it again - just leave."

"I did not open the crack."

"Somebody did. And I'd like a word with them," Avalon frowned, "It affected my sister, speaking of..." she turned back to Amy and Rory, "...I need to go and find her."

"Leave her, if she's going to Amy's house that'll probably be safer than here," Rory reminded.

"She's right," the Doctor agreed, his gaze locked on prisoner zero, "Now about those cracks..."

"The cracks in the skin of the universe - don't you know where they came from? You don't, do you?" Prisoner Zero took the voice of the little girls, "The Doctor in the TARDIS doesn't know. Doesn't know, doesn't know! The universe is cracked. The Pandorica will open. Silence will fall."

A clicking sound distracted the Doctor from actually paying attention, he looked at the wall and smiled, "And we're off! Look at that. Look at that! Yeah, I know, just a clock, whatever. But do you know what's happening right now? In one little bedroom, my team are working. Jeff and the world. And do you know what they're doing? They're spreading the word all over the world, quantum fast. The word is out. And do you know what the word is? The word is _zero_. Now, me, if I was up in the sky in a battleship, monitoring all Earth communications, I'd take that as a hint. And if I had a whole battle fleet surrounding the planet, I'd be able track a simple old computer virus to its source in, what, under a minute?" he took his mobile from the pocket, "The source, by the way, is right here," a bright light shined through the windows, "Oh! And I think they just found us!"

"The Atraxi are limited. While I'm in this form, they'll still be unable to detect me. They've tracked a phone, not me," Prisoner Zero said, undisturbed.

"Yeah, but this is the good bit. I mean, this is my favorite bit. Do you know what this phone is full of?" the Doctor smugly waved Rory's cellphone. "Pictures of you. Every form you've learned to take, right here. Oh, and being uploaded about now. And the final score is - no TARDIS, no screwdriver - two minutes to spare," the Doctor held out his arms to the trio behind him, "Who da man?"

"Do yourself a favor and _never_ say that again," Avalon replied, her hand in her hair as she looked away.

"Fine," the Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Then I shall take a new form," Prisoner Zero spoke, making the Doctor turn back.

"Oh, stop it, you know you can't. Takes months to form that kind of psychic link."

"And I've had _years_..."

Amy fell to the floor suddenly, Rory quickly dropping by her side. The Doctor and Avalon turned at the sound of the thud and hurried over.

"What's happened?" Avalon frantically asked.

The Doctor put his hands on Amy's face, "You've got to hold on. Amy! Don't sleep! You've got to stay awake, please."

Rory was looking behind them to Prisoner Zero, "Doctor?"

Avalon followed his gaze back, "Oh...well that's interesting."

The Doctor looked back also and frowned, "Well, that's rubbish. Who's that supposed to be?"

"What?" Avalon's head snapped to him, "That's _you_ , moron!"

"Me?" the Doctor looked down at himself. "Is that what I look like?"

"You mean you don't know?" she raised an eyebrow, "You're kidding me right?" but by the face the Doctor made she knew he wasn't, "Stupid!"

"I've had a busy day thank you very much," he stood up and spoke to Prisoner Zero, "Why me, though? You're linked with her. Why are you copying me?"

"I'm not. Poor Amy Pond. Still such a child inside," Amelia Pond moved around the fake Doctor, "Dreaming of the magic Doctor she knows will return. What a disappointment you've been."

"No, she's dreaming about me cos she can hear me," he dropped back to Amy's side, "Amy, don't just hear me, listen. Remember the room, the room in your house you couldn't see? Remember you went inside. I tried to stop, but you did. You went in the room. You went inside. Amy…dream about what you saw."

A bright light started taking over again, "No... no... No!" prisoner Zero cried as it started transforming back to its regular form.

"Well done, Prisoner Zero. A perfect impersonation of yourself," the Doctor looked up at it, smirking.

 _Prisoner Zero is located. Prisoner Zero is restrained._

"Silence, Doctor. Silence will fall," Prisoner Zero said as it disappeared.

The Doctor ran for the window and dialed on Rory's cellphone.

"The sun - it's back to normal, right? That's... That's good, yeah? That means it's over," Rory said, trying to get some confirmation from anyone but the Doctor kept dialing and so was Avalon now on her phone. He felt Amy stir in his arms and looked down, "Amy? Are you OK? Are you with us?"

"What happened?" Amy asked.

"He did it. The Doctor did it," Rory replied.

"No, I didn't," the Doctor called back.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked, then looked at Avalon, "What are _you_ doing too?" he asked her.

"Calling Lena," she stood up and moved away from them.

"And I'm tracking the signal back. Sorry, in advance," the Doctor explained.

"About what?" Rory dreaded to ask.

"The bill," the Doctor placed the phone over his ear and spoke, "Oi, I didn't say you could go! Article 57 of the Shadow Proclamation. This is a fully established, level 5 planet, and you were going to burn it? What...? Did you think no-one was watching? You lot, back here. Now!" he tossed the gone back to Rory, "OK. Now I've done it," he headed out of the war.

"Did he just bring them back? Did he just save the world from aliens and then bring all the aliens back again?" Rory called after them, Amy following the Doctor out.

"Rory, hush, I'm on the phone," Avalon also walked out.

~ 0 ~

"Avalon I don't know what's going on but there was this big spaceship with a large eye like the one on Amy's wall and I'm scared and I don't know-"

"Lena, Lena, Lena, calm down! It'll be okay!" Avalon hushed her twin sister down through the phone while following the Doctor down a corridor in the hospital, "Rory said you were headed for Amy's place, yeah?"

"Mhm," Lena sniffled.

"Okay, then stay there, it's completely safe now. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Okay..."

Avalon hung up and glared at the Doctor ahead of her, "You better have a good reason for bringing back that spaceship, stupid man! Lena is scared out of her wits and she's all alone!"

"She'll be less afraid when she finds out that the spaceship will never return," he countered calmly.

"Where are you going?" Amy asked.

"The roof. No, hang on," the Doctor stopped and entered a new room, a changing room.

"What's in here?" Avalon asked, confused.

"Nothing you'll be stealing, got it?"

"You're not gonna let it go are you?" she raised an eyebrow.

"You don't steal!"

"Well I have and I don't care!"

"That is _not_ the little girl I met five minutes ago!"

"Twelve years happened and she's had to grow up, alright!?" she shouted, leaving an air of silence fall over them.

The Doctor admitted that was a true statement, but it didn't mean he was going to let it go so easily. Right now he would have to focus on the threatening aliens up in the sky, but soon as he was done he was going to go back with Avalon. "Fine," he said and turned for the racks of clothes.

"What are we doing here?" Rory questioned.

"I'm saving the world - I need a decent shirt. To hell with the raggedy. Time to put on a show!" the Doctor sifted through the racks, throwing things he didn't like to the side.

"You just summoned aliens back to Earth. Actual aliens," Rory insisted on reminding everyone of that pending, stupid action while the Doctor took off his tattered clothes, "Deadly aliens, aliens of death, and now you're taking your clothes off... Amy, he's taking his clothes off."

"Turn your back if it embarrasses you," the Doctor said, unperturbed with an audience.

"Are you stealing clothes now? And you're on about it with _me_?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, turning around as Rory already had, "I didn't take you for being a hypocrite, you know."

"Oi, most of these people are _dead_. Now, that's not something I like but I'm in need of new clothes so button it up, red!"

Avalon rolled her eyes and looked at Amy, "Excuse you," Amy had remained looking at the Doctor, "You have a boyfriend," and she turned Amy around.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor was now wearing a pink and white, buttoned-up, long-sleeved, plaid shirt with braces and several ties draped around his neck. He walked out onto the roof with Rory, Avalon and Amy standing a bit back.

"So this was a good idea, was it? They were leaving," Amy reminded.

"Leaving is good. Never coming back is better. Come on, then! The Doctor will see you now," he called out and the eye from the spaceship disconnected and scanned him.

"You are not of this world."

"No, but I've put a lot of work into it," the Doctor said, casually looking at a tie then holding it out, "I don't know. What do you think?"

"Is this world important?"

"Important? What's that mean, important?" he tossed a tie back and Rory caught it, "6 billion people live here - is that important? Here's a better question. Is this world a threat to the Atraxi?" he threw another tie which landed on Avalon's shoulder, making her sigh in annoyance, "Well, come on. You're monitoring the whole planet. Is this world a threat?"

The Atraxi projected a hologram of the Earth with scenes of its history, "No."

"Are the peoples of this world guilty of any crime by the laws of the Atraxi?"

"No."

"OK. One more. Just one. Is this world protected? Because you're not the first lot to come here," as the Doctor spoke, a projection showed his various enemies, "Oh, there have been so many! And what you've got to ask is... what happened to them?" the projection started playing out his entire incarnations beginning with his first all the way to his current, "Hello. I'm the Doctor. Basically... run!"

"Wow," Avalon breathed in fascination. As the ship departed, Avalon sighed of relief, "And that's my cue to get the hell out of here," she pulled out her inhaler and dashed out.

Amy and Rory cheered behind the Doctor, both laughing and hugging. The Doctor felt something nearly burn in his pocket and reached inside to pull out the TARDIS key that glowed.

"Is that it? Is that them gone for good? Who were they?" Amy's laughter faded as she saw that the Doctor wasn't there anymore.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor ran into Amy's back garden up to the TARDIS, seeing the box had taken a new shade of blue, "OK! What have you got for me this time?" he opened the door and stepped inside, completely amazed at the new interior, " Look at you! Oh, you sexy thing! Look at you!"

The interior was now sporting bright shades of oranges with its coral design on the walls. The console stood on a raised, glass platform with steps leading up to it, even creating a lower level underneath it. There remained a second floor with stairs going up to more corridors.

The Doctor ran up to the console and flicked on the screen, pretty much turning everything on just to see how it would work. However, the screen directed itself with something quite interesting that made the Doctor stop...

~ 0 ~

"You have to let go! Please! She needs help!" Avalon was kicking and screaming as a group of policemen and women were dragging her away.

"Let her go," the grown up Lena Reynolds cried after them, slowing down when she felt her air begin to struggle.

"Refusing arrest will be added to your charges," one of the policemen warned Avalon.

"I don't care, you blundering idiot! My sister needs me!" Avalon actually tried biting them just to see if she could get free for a moment.

"What's going on!?" the Doctor ran out of Amy's garden into the sidewalk, in the middle of Avalon being taken away and Lena on his other side, struggling to stay on her feet.

"Doctor, please! Help her!" Avalon managed to reach inside her pocket and tried tossing the inhaler, "It's for her, please help her!"

"Avalon..." Lena dropped to her knees, her hand on her chest as she breathed heavier and faster.

"Say you'll help her, promise you'll help her! Promise me!" Avalon shouted, still resisting the police officers.

The Doctor nodded, "I promise," he reached for the inhaler and looked at Avalon. She'd stolen for Lena...she'd stolen for her sister. That was her good reason...

Avalon stopped struggling when she saw him move to Lena's side.

"Avalon Reynolds, you are under arrest," a police officer hand cuffed her behind her back. But Avalon didn't care, she watched her sister be cared for her. That was all she needed to go in peace.

"Here, take this," the Doctor handed the inhaler to Lena, helping her sit up a little.

Lena blinked when she looked at the man beside her, "You're...you're him..." she smiled, taking the inhaler from his hands, "...you're the fairytale man."

The Doctor nodded and encouraged her to use the inhaler. He could tell her voice had somewhat settled since he'd last seen her. It didn't sound scratchy but it still sounded a bit fragile. He looked to where Avalon had been and saw she and the police officers were gone. He looked back to Lena, "C'mon, you should have something to drink."

"Oh, but...my sister..." Lena took his hand and used it for support as she stood up, "...I can't leave her. My dad will be fuming when he finds out she's in jail again."

" _Again_?"

Lena nodded, "We're no longer little girls, fairy tale man. Avalon's changed...and it's my fault."

The Doctor looked at her curiously, "How so?"

Lena opened her mouth to respond when she collapsed, falling forwards. He caught her and scooped her into his arms, deciding to bring her into the TARDIS for a good check up.

~ 0 ~

Lena found herself in a white room she'd never seen before. She laid on a bed and turned her head to see the Doctor working on a machine, "What's going on?" her voice trembled, "Fairy tale man, what is this?"

"Don't be afraid," he quickly hurried to her side, "I only gave you a bit of medicine to help with that asthma and then I sort of ran tests on you."

"I'm sick, there's your result," she sat up and looked around.

"I think you're forgetting the part where it said you're not naturally human."

Lena looked at him with surprise, "How-how did you-"

"I'm an alien, Lena. I sort of have the machines to figure it out with. You're human alright," he took a seat beside her, "But...not like the rest of the humans on this planet," he smiled softly, "You're from New Earth."

"Yeah..."

"You traveled back in time," the Doctor said, quite impressed with the fact, "How come?"

Lena shrugged, "Don't know. Mum and Dad used to say they preferred an earth like this. A calm environment to raise children in."

"I like this earth too. Though I'm still a bit intrigued by your family."

"How come?"

"Cos of your illness. See, the New Earth humans don't have the type of immune system you have, and I assume your family has."

"We're from an evolved group of humans. My parents said that their ancestors arose from a group in a hospital, can you believe that?"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, intrigued yet confused, "A hospital?"

"Yeah, it really was a fantasy story. Avalon loved it cos there was a hero..." Lena gave him a significant look, hoping he would understand that this was the origin point of her love for fairy tales, "...who cured them all."

The Doctor's eyed widened, "Oh...oh wow...that's a turn of events. Never thought what could happen then they'd start to reproduce." He ran a hand through his hair and began to smile. "And...and so that's why your sister knew me?"

"She loves that story," Lena sheepishly shared.

"Okay, so then...this is why your immune system has..."

"The humans you rescued evolved with the cures you implanted in their bodies until one day, they just walked with a little bit of a cure for every disease. We're not supposed to be sick," Lena explained, "But I was born with a mutation in my genes that makes my system attack itself and weaken my state."

"I'm sorry," the Doctor took her hand, "Believe me, I'm really sorry."

"It's not your fault, I just got what I got. I'm okay with it," Lena then sighed, "But my family..." she sighed again, "... _Avalon_. Doctor, please, just like you helped me, help her."

"What can I do?"

"Can't you get her out of jail or something? She can't go there anymore, not because of me. Help her please."

The Doctor nodded, "I'll see what I can do," he stood up, "But I want you to stay here and rest until I get back."

She nodded and let him go on his way.

~ 0 ~

Avalon was boredly sitting on the wooden bench in her cell, resting against the wall when an officer walked up and started unlocking it, "You're free to go," he said and opened up the cell.

Avalon stood up, confused, "What?"

"You're free to go now c'mon."

"How is that possible?" she walked out nonetheless. "No one's paid the fine yet."

"There was a request from her highness."

"The Queen wanted me free?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, not an ounce of belief in her.

"Apparently so, now do yourself a favor and get out of here, Reynolds."

Avalon sighed, "Yeah, we'll see."

She walked out of the cell corridors and into the front office to gather up her belongings. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could have sworn she saw someone watching her. She spun around, only barely catching the glimpse of a man with brown hair. She raised an eyebrow and took several steps after them, but she saw no one.

"Reynolds," one of the officers behind the desk called and she whipped her head back. He slid her purse back to her. "Stay out of trouble, will you?"

"Like I told Joshua in the cells, we'll see," Avalon briefly smiled and took her bag off the counter. She turned around and started walking out, never catching the Doctor hidden on the side.

"Avalon Reynolds..." he gave a small shake of his head, "...what happened?"

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Hi there! I'm so happy to finally put this story out there. I have to say that out of the 3 OCs I've written into Doctor Who 'Avalon' is definitely my favorite. And while I'm at it, if you're interested in reading 2 more OCs for Doctor Who you can go to my profile and check out _**Next Stop, Everywhere**_ with an OC/10th Doctor pairing and also _**The Beginning of Everything**_ with an OC/10th Doctor pairing!

And just to clarify, Avalon is OC #1 who looks like Rachelle Lefevre! Her sister, Lena (OC #2) will look like Bella Heathcote!


	2. The Beast Below

Lena Reynolds walked around the TARDIS console with an awed face expression, her arms wrapped around herself as she studied the moving rota on the column, at least that's what the Doctor had told her it was called. She'd probably asked a million questions and irritated the man but he didn't show any sign of it. She felt like all this was a fairy tale and she would simply wake up in a couple minutes. There was a blue box that was far bigger on the inside with intricate designs and was owned by a mysterious man who seemed around her age and yet was (apparently) much, _much_ older than he appeared to be. Additionally, the man was a time traveler with no name, only a title: the Doctor. Yes, this was a fairy tale...and it wasn't hers to live.

Lena felt like this should be _Avalon's_ place, not hers. If anyone deserved to be here it was Avalon. Their younger brother was still too young to actually care what was going on with his sisters. For him it was all about his skate board and the passing, pretty girls. Her father was far too deep in his job to take notice of how his children, specifically his daughters, were. It was poor Avalon that took the weight of the entire household. Lena was never allowed to do any of the work, restricted by Avalon and her father. She was sick and by that logic (apparently) she was unfit to do any of the chores because it would harm her. So, Avalon was left to do the work while Lena could only simply watch. Lena felt awful about that. Now, she was getting this opportunity to travel among the stars with one of their best friends, Amy, while Avalon remained at home...thinking her sister was probably dead.

Because apparently, the Doctor had made the mistake of coming for Amy - and also intending on Avalon - two years after the Atraxi attack. There had been two whole years where Lena Reynolds was missing in Leadworth. Amy was originally shocked to find that Lena had been with the Doctor this whole time, and even more when she was told it had only been about an hour inside the TARDIS. Amy explained to the Doctor and Lena how the Reynolds had been distraught over the disappearance of Lena, but no one more than Avalon. Still, she also admitted that little by little, as the case lost its hype with the news, the Reynolds were forced to move on with their lives. Amy even revealed that Avalon had started a serious relationship with some man in Rory's hospital. Lena felt incredibly happy to know that Avalon was finally doing something for herself. It was for that reason that Lena asked for the Doctor a chance to stay in the TARDIS a little longer with the hopes that more time would allow for Avalon to build herself a life.

The soft hum coming from the rotor pulled Lena from her thoughts. She reached for the rotor and gave it a light pat. "I hope you don't mind some new visitors," she whispered, her eyes drifting towards the open doors where the Doctor and Amy were at. Well, the Doctor was actually _in_ the TARDIS. Amy was hanging out in outer space with the Doctor holding onto her ankle.

"Come on, Pond," the Doctor pulled her back inside the box, " _Now_ do you believe me?"

"OK, your box is a spaceship. It's really, really a spaceship. We are in space! Whoo!" the ginger cheered, "Lena, sure you don't want to try that?" she looked over to the brunette.

"No thank you, don't want to accidentally fly away," Lena replied, eyes wide in alarm.

The Doctor threw her a mock glare, "Oi, I wouldn't let that happen."

"Yeah but with my luck you'd sneeze or something," she shrugged and joined them at the doorway, simply leaning forwards and peering up, "But my that is marvelous."

"What are we breathing?" Amy suddenly asked, wondering how the hell she hadn't exploded or something from the time she spent floating outside the box.

"I've extended the air shell - we're fine," the Doctor replied before seeing something below them. He squatted down to get a closer look, "Now, that's interesting," they seemed to be flying over a spaceship, and a huge one, "29th Century. Solar flares roast the earth..." he started heading back to the console.

"Didn't know that..." Lena blinked as she went after him.

He smiled, "And people survive," he added. "Actually, the entire human race packs its bags," he worked some of the controls, "...and moves out till the weather improves. Whole nations..."

"Doctor?" Amy called, Lena feeling as if the call was just a bit in the _distance_?

"..migrating to the stars," the Doctor finished without noticing he was short one ginger.

"Doctor?"

"Isn't that amazing?" he looked up to find Lena peering back out the door with no Amy Pond to be seen. He shook his head and walked to the doorway to find Amy floating, or _clinging_ , to the roof of the TARDIS, "Well, come on. I've found us a spaceship."

"You mean we're actually going to be stepping onto that thing?" Lena asked, feeling a bit uneasy as she watched the passing spaceship.

"Scared?" he teased.

"Frankly, yes."

He stopped his tease. No one had ever really spoken so literally like that. Even Donna when she'd been to her first alien planet was far more excited than Lena showed to be right now. Frankly, most of his companions seemed to be excited to step on a new land. He wondered if bringing Lena was going to be a mistake. The girl seemed very kind but she also seemed very timid. But what worried him the most was that pesky illness that wouldn't leave her alone. If something happened to her it'd be over his head and that would add one more to the list of the dead because of him.

"Oh, don't be a scary cat, Lena," Amy called from above, making Lena look up, "What would Avalon say if she was here?

"Um...go rest?"

Amy rolled her eyes, "Okay fine, bad example. What would Mels say if she was here?"

"Quit being a baby and go for it," Lena recited, missing the amused smile the Doctor had for that one.

"Exactly," Amy nodded, "So...quit being a baby and go for it."

"That's not very nice," Lena shook her head.

"You're in outerspace with the chance anyone would die for and you don't want to step out? C'mon, Lena. Get some bravery and go for it!"

"I can't...Avalon has it all."

"You can't steal that, I'm afraid," the Doctor put a hand on her shoulder, "Why not just use Avalon as an example instead?" he brought Amy back into the TARDIS and returned to the console. There, he pulled up the spaceship on the monitor for them to see. "This is the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland - all of it, bolted together and floating in the sky. Starship UK. It's Britain, but metal. That's not just a ship - that's an idea. That's a whole country, living and laughing and...shopping. Searching the stars for a new home."

"Can we go out and see?" Amy asked, glancing at Lena to see if she was still on board with the idea.

"Course we can but first, there's a thing," the Doctor turned to them.

"A thing?"

"An important thing. In fact, thing one," the Doctor looked through a magnifying glass, "We are observers only. That's the one rule I've always stuck to in my travels. I never get involved in the affairs of other peoples or planets. Ooh! That's interesting," he leaned forwards at the monitor to see a little girl, Mandy, sitting alone on a bench as she cried.

"Oh, that's sad," Lena frowned, "Where's the girl's mother?" Lena could not help connecting nearly every child she saw back to its mother. She supposed it was the consequence of losing her own mother at a young age. Even after years she still missed her mother and really needed her.

"So we're like a wildlife documentary, yeah? Cos if they see a wounded little cub or something, they can't just save it - they've got to keep filming and let it die," Amy was saying as she watched Mandy, Lena moving closer as well, "That's got to be hard. I don't think I could do that. Don't you find that hard - being all, like, detached and cold?"

Both women blinked when they saw the Doctor appearing onscreen with Mandy.

"Doctor?" Lena tilted her head, "Hm, that can't be right..."

But the Doctor waved to the women from the screen, letting them know it was indeed him.

~ 0 ~

Amy stepped out of the TARDIS and looked around the new city with awe. After a moment, she noticed she was standing alone. Lena was clinging onto the TARDIS doorway hinge fearfully.

"Lena, come on out," Amy instructed lightly.

"I don't know..." Lena mumbled.

"Yes, you do. You wanted to get away from your family, yeah? What better escape than this one?"

"I...I need Avalon..." Lena moved back inside. She wanted to let Avalon live her own life and yet she realized that she _needed_ Avalon. She was _that_ useless and that clingy that she couldn't even last a day without her sister. As she looked around and saw more and more people, the need to have Avalon tell her to go back inside or take her somewhere calm or just have Avalon hugging her grew more and more.

"Lena, you alright?" Amy cautiously stepped back for her. She knew how easily Lena could have one of her episodes, especially whenever her sister was missing or...the first time Lena would step out onto an actual spaceship.

"Everything alright?" the Doctor rejoined them, noticing it had taken far too long for them catch up.

"It's Lena," Amy pointed to the fearful brunette that remained stuck inside the TARDIS with her arms around herself, "I think she's scared."

"Lena, why don't you come out? I promise it'll be fun," the Doctor walked towards the box, stopping right outside the doorway.

"I need my sister," Lena mumbled, pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear, "I'm stupid, I know I am but...Avalon usually tells me when to do stuff and she's rather good at it...she's not here right now and what if I need her? I think I need her, Doctor..."

"Okay," the Doctor stepped inside, "You wanted to leave your family for a moment, right?" she nodded, "Think of the reason why you wanted to go. You don't have to tell me, just think. Good or bad, you wanted to come, so come out," he held a hand out for her, "If you're afraid then you can stop cos I promise I won't leave your side. I'll protect you."

"Like...like an older brother?"

He nodded, "Yes, I can be an older brother...a _cool_ one," he was quick to clarify, making her smile a little, "So c'mon, have a little faith in your bro and come out."

"Please don't ever say that again," Amy called from behind, shaking her head with disapproval.

He rolled his eyes, "Not now, Pond. Shush," Lena was still debating whether or not to come out and really needed to be convinced before she fell ill again, more than she already was, "Lena?"

"I'm gonna trust you Doctor," Lena took his hand, "I only have an older twin sister of two minutes and 14 year old brother so...I've never had an older brother, are you going to be a good one?"

"I already told you, the coolest," the Doctor assured, slowly leading her out, carefully letting her step onto the ground, "Now, what do you think?"

Lena sucked in a breath as she observed the place for real this time. There was an arched glass ceiling that allowed one to see the stars. There was a full-blown market ahead of them with stalls and booths which reminded Lena more of those flea markets Avalon sometimes took her to.

"This is the future..." Lena declared, "...wow...Lena Reynolds, in the future. Actually, properly in the future."

She had always asked her father if they would once see the future Earth, New Earth, specifically, but her father would never say yes. The only times they visited New Earth was when she had her usual hospital trips or when they needed something only the future had. There was a vortex manipulator hidden somewhere in their house for such occasion. It was hidden because of Avalon and her mischievous actions. Lena sometimes wondered if she could actually take the manipulator and go out and see the New Earth city...

Perhaps being with the Doctor wouldn't be so bad if things were like this. The only thing she regretted was that Avalon wasn't there to see it with her, together like always.

"Lena is right," Amy agreed as they walked, "We're in the future. Like hundreds...of years in the future," she blinked at a sudden realization, "I've been dead for centuries."

"Oh, lovely. You're a cheery one," the Doctor gave her a scolding look and nodded discreetly to Lena who was distracted with the passing decorations, "I just got her to step out and you're talking about death?"

"Oops," Amy mined her lips shut.

"Anyways, never mind dead, look at this place. Isn't it wrong?"

"Why would it be wrong?" Lena looked at him in confusion, "It's peaceful."

"Use your eyes, the both of you," he instructed, "Notice everything. What's wrong with this picture?"

"Is it...the bicycles?" Amy pointed to a rickshaw, "Bit unusual on a spaceship, bicycles. "

"Says the girl in the nightie."

Amy gasped and looked down at herself with realization, "Oh, my God! I'm in my nightie!" she looked up with embarrassment. She hadn't been like Lena who'd been taken out of a street with her day clothes on. No, she'd been taken in the night, in the middle of the night.

"Now, come on, look around you. Actually look," the Doctor insisted to both women, "Lena?"

"Um...I don't know," she shrugged, "Everything looks fine, well, except for the little girl that was crying. Did you find out what was wrong with her?"

He smiled, "Not exactly, you're a bit ahead of me."

"What is then?"

"Life on a giant starship, back to basics. Bicycles, washing lines, wind-up street lamps. But look closer. Secrets and shadows, lives led in fear. Society bent out of shape, on the brink of collapse. A police state. Excuse me," he let go of Lena and ran over to a nearby table, taking a glass of water from one of the people sitting there and set it on the floor while he looked at it intently. After a second or two he picked up the glass and set it back on the table, "Sorry. Checking all the water in this area. There's an escaped fish," he tapped the side of his nose and rejoined the women, "Where was I?"

"Why did you just do that with the water?" Amy asked.

"Don't know. I think a lot. It's hard to keep track. Now, police state - do you see it yet?"

"Where?"

The Doctor snapped and pointed behind them, "There."

They turned to see Mandy on the bench, still crying. Everyone who walked by her simply ignored her. The trio headed towards them, unaware of a man in a hood wearing an amulet watching them behind.

The trio came to a bench just across Mandy, and while they didn't directly go up to her, they discussed the theories on what could be her problem. In the end, however, Amy began to wonder if they were making a big deal out of nothing.

"One little girl crying. So?" she had to ask finally.

"Crying silently," the Doctor corrected, "I mean, children cry cos they want attention, cos they're hurt or afraid. When they cry silently, it's cos they just can't stop. Any parent knows that."

"Are you a parent?" Lena looked over and studied him, seeing how her question startled him. The fact he didn't even answer the question alerted her that it was a sensitive topic she probably shouldn't ask about anymore.

"Hundreds of parents walking past this spot and not one of them's asking her what's wrong, which means...they already know, and it's something they don't talk about. Secrets. They're not helping her, so it's something they're afraid of. Shadows - whatever they're afraid of - it's nowhere to be seen, which means it's everywhere. Police state.".

Unnoticed by the group, Mandy stood up from her bench as a lift bell rang and walked away, unbeknownst to _her_ that a figure in a nearby booth was watching her.

"Where'd she go?" Amy suddenly noticed the missing girl a minute later.

"Deck 207, Apple Sesame block, Dwelling 54A. You're looking for Mandy Tanner. Oh," the Doctor reached into his pocket, "This fell out of her pocket when I accidentally bumped into her," he handed Amy the ID wallet, "Took me four goes. Ask her about those things - the smiling fellows in the booths. They're everywhere."

"But they're just things," Lena remarked as she looked at one of the booths, "...with creepy smiles..." she leaned away as if she was actually upfront with one of them.

"They're clean. Everything else here is battered and filthy - look at this place. But no-one's laid a finger on those booths. Not a footprint within two feet of them," the Doctor explained, "Ask Mandy, "Why are people scared of the things in the booths?"

"No. Hang on - what do we do?" Amy whispered, "I don't know what I'm doing here and I'm not even dressed!"

The Doctor stood up with the two women following up, "It's this or Leadworth. What do you think? Let's see. What will Amy Pond and Lena Reynolds choose? Ha-ha, gotcha!" he checked his watch for the time, "Meet me back here in half an hour."

"What are you going to do?" Amy asked.

"What I always do. Stay out of trouble. Badly," he leaped over the bench and started walking away.

"Hey wait," Lena called as she went around the bench, the Doctor turning around at the call, "You promised you weren't leaving my side, remember?" she crossed her arms.

"Well, you're going with Amy," he pointed to the ginger behind.

"You _promised_ ," Lena gave him a hard look, "And since you promised to be back in five minutes and didn't, don't you think you should keep this new one you made to me?"

The Doctor nodded and held a hand out for her. "Come along, then, Lena."

Lena beamed and rushed over then glanced at Amy, "You don't mind Amy?"

"Nah, I'll be fine...I guess," Amy shrugged. She supposed it was better for Lena to go with a doctor than a regular person. She wouldn't have the first clue about first aid or anything else medical in case Lena had a relapse. Oh yes, she on her own and Lena with the Doctor, best option.

"Thanks Amy," Lena smiled. Amy nodded and the trio parted ways, "So Doctor, is this how your trips go?"

"How do you mean?" he looked down at her.

'You never interfere in the affairs of other peoples or planets, unless there's children crying?"

"Yes," he nodded but she scoffed, confusing him.

"Somehow...I don't think that's the case," Lena studied him for a moment. "Least, that's not what Avalon says."

"You know, for someone who wanted to leave their sister and family...you sure seem to bring up Avalon a lot," the Doctor casually remarked, eyeing the brunette as she grew silent for a minute, "Are you going to eventually tell me why you wanted to leave your family?"

"Um...perhaps..." was all Lena said on that matter.

~ 0 ~

Despite Lena's edginess to go snooping around, because she decreed to the Doctor it was the utmost incorrect thing to do on a foreign spaceship, the Doctor brought her all the way down to the maintenance area of the spaceship.

"But are you sure we won't get caught?" she asked as she climbed down the last step of the ladder in a corridor. She missed the Doctor's face at her question and when she finally looked at him he was already investigating. He put his hands on the wall and leaned an ear to listen, just like he had done with Amy's bedroom crack all those years ago. "What are we doing, exactly?"

"Can't be," the Doctor whispered to himself and stepped back. Lena then saw that familiar whirring device being pulled from the inside of his tweed jacket.

"What is that?" she inched closer out of curiosity.

"Sonic screwdriver," he smiled briefly at her. "Now, sh! For a moment!"

Lena made a face but kept quiet. She turned away intending on helping in whatever way she could. Her eyes blinked at the sight of a lonesome glass of water just randomly placed on the floor. "Oh..." she reached back for the Doctor's arm and tugged on it. "Look, just like what you did earlier!"

At the sight of the glass, the Doctor put away the sonic and rushed up to it. Lena scurried after him. The Doctor dropped to his knees to get a better study of the glass, and missed a stranger woman in a cloak.

Lena did not.

"Who's she!?" she cried and made the Doctor whip his head up.

"The impossible truth in a glass of water," the woman whispered to them. "Not many people see it. But you do, don't you, Doctor?"

Surprised at her knowledge, the Doctor got back on his feet to face the woman. "You know me?"

"Keep your voice down," the woman hissed. "They're everywhere. Tell me what you see in the glass."

"Who says I see anything?" the Doctor played dumb.

"Don't waste time. At the marketplace, you placed a glass of water on the floor, looked at it, then came straight here to the engine room. Why?"

Lena would have figured the Doctor would've asked how the woman even knew he'd performed the trick, but instead he admitted the truth. "No engine vibration on deck. Ship this size, engine this big, you'd feel it. The water would move."

Lena looked around and suddenly realized they were right. How could she not notice that!? She always was a bit slow on picking things up, which was why her younger brother could always pull one over her. Thankfully, Avalon was always at her side making sure that didn't happen so much. No one wanted to mess with Avalon, not even their brother! Lena inwardly sighed, hugging herself as she thought what Avalon could be doing at the moment. She truly missed her older twin sister.

The Doctor had opened up a power box on the wall as he spoke to the woman who had yet to give a name for herself, "It doesn't make sense. These power couplings, they're not connected. Look. Look - they're dummies, see?" he crossed the hall and tapped the wall, "And behind this wall, nothing. It's hollow. If I didn't know better, I'd say there was..."

"No engine at all."

"But it's working. This ship is travelling though space. I saw it," the Doctor insisted.

"The impossible truth, Doctor. We're travelling among the stars in a spaceship that could never fly."

"How?"

"I don't know. There's a darkness at the heart of this nation. It threatens every one of us. Help us, Doctor. You're our only hope. Your friend is safe," the woman handed him a device, "This will take you to her. Now go, quickly!" she began walking away.

"Who are you? How do I find you again?"

She turned to face him and whispered once more, "I am Liz 10. And I will find you."

A crashing sound made Lena and the Doctor turn around, and when the Doctor looked back to the woman he found she was gone.

~ 0 ~

Amy found herself in a small room, sitting on a lone chair, with four monitors in front of her as televisions or something of the style...and a Smile in a booth. Upon seeing her new surroundings, Amy was pretty glad Lena had gone off with the Doctor. If something happened to the girl on _her_ watch...she was pretty sure Avalon would murder her.

"Welcome to voting cubicle 330C. Please leave this installation as you would wish to find it," the computer voice snapped Amy out of her thoughts. She stood up and looked around as the voice continued speaking, "The United Kingdom recognizes the right to know of all its citizens," Amy looked down to see three large buttons reading protest, record and forget, "A presentation concerning the history of Starship UK will begin shortly. Your identity is being verified on our electoral roll," Amy sat down as she saw her profile on screen, "Name - Amelia Jessica Pond. 'Age - 1,306."

Upon seeing her age, Amy gasped and laughed, "Shut up!"

"Marital status..."

Amy straightened up, actually curious to see the answer.

"Unknown."

Amy flopped back into her chair, a bit uneasy for some reason when it came to her "marriage". She knew she loved Rory, but...for some reason every time she thought of Rory she ended up thinking of the Doctor. Plus, sometimes she felt like even Rory wasn't so sure about their wedding. There were times when she would catch Rory giving glances to _Avalon_. He would do that ever since they were kids and when Amy would ask him why he kept looking at Avalon, he would answer that it was nothing.

Amy watched the four screens as a video started playing, a presenter speaking as the images started, " _You are here because you want to know the truth about this starship, and I am talking to you because you're entitled to know. When this presentation has finished, you will have a choice. You may either protest...or forget. If you choose to protest, understand this. If just 1% of the population of this ship do likewise, the program will be discontinued, with consequences for you all. If you choose to accept the situation - and we hope that you will - then press the "forget" button. All the information I am about to give you will be erased from your memory. You will continue to enjoy the safety and amenities of Starship UK, unburdened by the knowledge of what has been done to save you. Here, then, is the truth about Starship UK, and the price that has been paid for the safety of the British people. May God have mercy on our souls."_

Amy's eyes watered up as the video continue to play and suddenly found herself pressing the Forget button. As she cleaned her face up, a video of her started playing, "This isn't a trick. You've got to find the Doctor and get him back to the TARDIS. Don't let him investigate. Stop him. Do whatever you have to. Just please, please get the Doctor off this ship!"

The door finally opened up to reveal Mandy waiting on the other side. The Doctor and Lena appeared on either side of the doorway soon after, both wearing faces of concern.

"Amy? What have you done?" the Doctor asked and Amy immediately shut the video off. He quickly moved over to her place and started looking at the monitors.

"Amy, are you alright!?" Lena quickly ran over and hugged Amy, happy to see her friend was alive and well.

"I-I don't know, I don't..." Amy looked around in confusion, "I can't remember..."

The Doctor got on the chair Amy had sat in and used his sonic on the lamp above.

"Amy, it's alright, you're okay," Lena tried calming her friend down while the Doctor worked, "It's fine..."

"Yeah, your basic memory wipe job," the Doctor figured out and looked down, "Must have erased about 20 minutes after you pressed that button," he pointed at the three buttons on the table as he jumped down.

"But why would I choose to forget?" Amy frowned.

"Cos everyone does. Everyone chooses the "forget" button," Mandy spoke up, staying by the doorway.

"Did you?" Lena looked at the young girl.

"I'm not eligible to vote yet. I'm 12. Any time after you're 16, you're allowed to the see the film and make your choice. And then, once every five years..."

"And once every five years, everyone chooses to forget what they've learned. Democracy in action," the Doctor turned to the monitors.

"How do you not know about this? Are you Scottish too?"

"Oh, I'm way worse than Scottish. I can't even see the movie. Won't play for me."

"It played for _me_ ," Amy remarked.

"The difference being the computer doesn't accept me as _human_ ," the Doctor clarified, giving Lena a quick glance. He couldn't help to wonder whether or not the video would've played for Lena considering she was human but in the end an evolutionized one.

"Why not?" Amy asked as she and Lena joined him, "You look human."

"No, you look Time Lord. We came first."

"So there are other Time Lords?" Lena asked, recalling how the New Earth story of the Time Lord and a blonde only ever involved _one_ Time Lord. Any other stories Avalon had managed to find out about the Doctor only ever involved him and some other human(s).

"No. There were, but there aren't... Just me now," the Doctor's voice went a bit distant all of a sudden. "Long story. There was a bad day. Bad stuff happened, and you know what? I'd love to forget it all, every last bit of it, but I don't. Not ever. Cos this is what I do - every time, every day, every second. This. Mandy, step back," he ordered and so was done, "Hold tight. We're bringing down the government," he pressed the Protest button and the door slammed shut, leaving Mandy outside.

The Smiler inside the booth turned its head to show its angry face. The Doctor pulled Amy and Lena into the corner of the room as the floor slides open.

"Say, "Wheee!"" he exclaimed but that was not what the two girls shouted as they fell down a chute.

They went splashing inside some new 'room' full of odd smelling water. The Doctor was the first to rise from the water and wasted no time in using the sonic to investigate their new location. "High-speed air cannon. Lousy way to travel."

"Where are we, Doctor?" Lena extended her arms and shook them in an effort to release some of the water being soaked up by her jacket.

"600 feet down, 20 miles laterally - puts us at the heart of the ship. I'd say... Lancashire," the Doctor replied as he continued to observe their surroundings, "What's this, then - a cave? Can't be a cave. Looks like a cave,"

"It's a rubbish dump, and it's stinking!" Amy threw away a piece of rubbish over her shoulder.

"Yes, but only food refuse,' the Doctor sniffed himself, "Organic, coming through feeder tubes from all over the ship."

Lena bent down and felt the floor with a hand, "The floor's all squidgy, like a water bed."

"But feeding what, though?"

"It's sort of rubbery, feel it. Wet and slimy," Lena crinkled her nose and stood up.

The Doctor heard a distant moaning and quickly realized where they were, "Er... It's not a floor, it's a..." he put away his screwdriver, "So..."

"It's a what?" Amy raised an eyebrow.

"The next word is kind of the scary word," he turned to face both women, really hoping this wouldn't terrorize Lena and affect her health, "Take a moment. Get yourselves in a calm place. Go "omm"."

"Omm," both women went, exchanging dreadful glances.

"It's a tongue..."

"A tongue?" Amy's eyes widened while Lena tilted her head as hoping she'd heard wrong.

"A tongue. A great big tongue!" the Doctor exclaimed then gave Lena a sharp look, "You okay?"

She hugged herself as she took observation of the place, "This is a mouth? This whole place is a _mouth_?" he nodded, cautiously awaiting her true reaction, "Can we please get out of here please? This is quite scary..."

"We're in a mouth?!" Amy nearly shouted.

"Yes, yes, yes, but on the plus side, roomy," the Doctor said, "And Lena, don't worry, I'm on it," she gave her grateful nod to him. He took out his screwdriver again and started sonicing the place, "How big is this beastie? It's gorgeous! Blimey! if this is just the mouth, I'd love to see the stomach," and then he heard a grunting noise, "Though not right now."

"Doctor, how do we get out?" Lena trembled at the sound.

"OK, it's being fed through surgically implanted feeder tubes, so the normal entrance is..." he saw the sharp teeth of a closed mouth, "Closed for business."

"We can try, though," Amy headed forwards.

"No! Stop, don't move!" The Doctor reached to stop her but it was too late as the mouth heaved in agitation, "Too late. It's started."

"What has?" Lena unconsciously moved closer to him and swallowed hard as she heard another of those groans.

"Swallow reflex..."

The three slipped and fell back into the refuse. Quickly, the Doctor used the sonic on the mouth's walls.

"What are you doing?" Amy asked.

"I'm vibrating the chemo-receptors."

"Chemo-what?"

"The eject button."

"How does a mouth have an _eject_ button?"

"Think about it!"

"Doctor..." Lena nearly cried at the sight of the large wave of bile coming towards them.

"Right, then," he straightened his bow tie, "This isn't going to be big on dignity," he reached for Lena's hand for reassurance, "Big brother's got yah...geronimo!"

~ 0 ~

Amy and Lena slowly woke up to find themselves on the floor of a small corridor with a door ahead of them which the Doctor was currently checking over.

"There's nothing broken, there's no sign of concussion and yes, you are covered in sick," the Doctor said with his back to them.

"Where are we?" Lena's voice cracked from so much screams she'd given earlier.

"Overspill pipe, at a guess."

"Oh, God, it stinks," Amy crinkled her nose as they stood up.

"That's not the pipe."

"Oh," Amy caught a whiff of herself and nearly gagged, "Whoo! Can we get out?"

"One door, one door switch, one condition," he moved to show a button on the door, "We forget everything we saw. Look familiar? That's the carrot."

"Why are they so keen on making is forget?" Lena asked, "Is the secret just that awful?"

"And I'm thinking it has something to do with that creature in the hart of the ship," the Doctor said as the lights returned to reveal two Smilers in booths beside him, "So what's it doing there?" he demanded from them and received the turn of their heads to show their angry faces, "No, that's not going to work on me, so come on. Big old beast below decks, and everyone who protests gets shoved down its throat. That how it works?" the faces continued to show their anger, "Oh, stop it. I'm not leaving and I'm not forgetting and what are you fellows going to do about it? Stick out your tongues?"

The booths opened up and the two Smilers stood and walked towards the trio who nervously backed away.

"You're not doing a good job," Lena tiredly remarked.

"Yup, got that," the Doctor sighed.

The woman in the cloak appeared behind them and shot the Smilers, twirling her pistol before placing back on its holster. The Doctor turned around, relieved to see the mysterious woman, "Look who it is. You look a lot better without your mask."

"You must be Amy. Liz. Liz 10," the woman shook the ginger's hand.

"Hi," Amy greeted.

"Eurgh!" Liz 10 wiped her hand on her cloak, "Lovely hair, Amy. Shame about the sick," she remarked before moving to Lena, "I don't mean to sound rude, but...do you _talk_?" she asked the timid brunette who silently nodded, "Right, you may want to start that soon," she shook Lena's hand, "You know Mandy, yeah?" she put an arm around the small girl, "She's very brave."

"How did you find us?" the Doctor curiously asked.

"Stuck my gizmo on you," she threw her device to him, "Been listening in. Nice moves on the hurl escape. So, what's the big fella doing here?"

"You look over 16 which would mean you'd have to already voted," Lena quietly spoke, "But you clearly chose to Forget."

"Oh, so you only talk to strike at me," Liz playfully smiled.

"Oh, no!" Lena shook her head, "I didn't mean to make you feel like..."

The Doctor set a hand on her shoulder and gave her a look that made her stop talking, "I don't think she meant that literally."

"Oh..." Lena made a face, embarrassed, "...right."

"You really need Avalon," Amy remarked, "Come to think of it, I've _never_ seen you two apart except when Avalon's in jail...this is your chance to be _you_."

Lena nodded silently, finding Amy's words to be so true. As far as she could remember, she and Avalon were never apart. Even in school they were always placed in the same class and right next to each other. They had the same friends (Amy, Rory, Mels, etc.) and were always out together. Lena came to realize that while Avalon _did_ have a personality of her own, Lena didn't have anything except being the 'sick girl' or the 'sister of the ginger criminal'. Those weren't exactly the titles she wanted to be remembered by when she died. She supposed that this little adventure with Amy and the Doctor could also be for her to realize who she was, while Avalon got to live her own life. But she missed that crazy ginger _so_ much...

"I never forgot, never voted," Liz was explaining to the others, "Not technically a British subject."

"Then who and what are you, and how do you know me?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow.

"You're a bit hard to miss, love. Mysterious stranger, MO consistent with higher alien intelligence, hair of an idiot..." Liz paused as the Doctor pointed at her as if to argue then ran his hand through his wet hair instead, "I've been brought up on the stories. My whole family was."

"Your family?"

One of the Smilers started moving, alerting the group it was time to go.

"They're repairing. Doesn't take them long. Let's move," Liz ordered and led them out of the overspill into new corridors, "The Doctor. Old drinking buddy of Henry XII. Tea and scones with Liz II. Vicky was a bit on the fence about you, weren't she? Knighted and exiled you on the same day. And you certainly had the adoration of Liz I."

"Liz 10?" the Doctor asked, the connections being made inside his head.

A Smiler rose from a booth in the corridor, "Liz 10, yeah. Elizabeth X. And down!" she turned and fired both her pistols at the Smilers, making them collapse on the floor, "I'm the bloody Queen, mate. Basically, I rule."

"Wow, I haven't seen skills like that since Avalon's," Amy passingly remarked, getting an agreeing hum from Lena.

"She always did beat everyone, even poor Rory," Lena shook her head, laughing lightly at the memories. At one point in their childhood, their parents had enrolled Lena in art classes and Avalon in karate as was her request. In doing so, she managed to convince Rory to join the same class. It was incredible how Avalon excelled in the class, how she took almost ever student down. Rory did not have the same luck. He repeated himself, as the years went by, that the only reason he remained in the classes was just for Avalon.

They were always the best of friends, Lena remembered sadly, suddenly missing her sister ten times more.

~ 0 ~

Liz 10 took the group through another corridor that was actually the base of a vator shaft, "There's a high-speed Vator through there," the Doctor looked into a caged area where similar tentacles Amy saw earlier were sprouting, "Oh, yeah. There's these things. Any ideas?"

"Doctor, I saw one of these up top. There was a hole in the road, like it had burst through, like a root," Amy said.

"Exactly like a root. It's all one creature - the same one we were inside - reaching out. It must be growing through the mechanisms of the entire ship."

"What? Like an infestation?" Lena questioned.

"Someone's helping it. Feeding it."

"Feeding my subjects to it. Come on. We've got to keep moving," Liz stormed off in anger with Mandy behind.

"Doctor?" Lena slowly joined her two friends.

"Oh Lena, Amy," the Doctor sympathetically looked at the creatures as they banged against the bars, "We should never have come here."

Amy blinked as she remembered her video message...

~ 0 ~

Now in Liz's bedroom, the Doctor carefully walked through the maze of glasses filled with water on the floor, "Why all the glasses?"

Liz sat on her bed, a dark stare at the glasses, "To remind me every single day that my government is up to something, and it's my duty to find out what."

He picked up her mask and observed it, "A queen going undercover to investigate her own kingdom?"

"Secrets are being kept from me. I don't have a choice. Ten years I've been at this - my entire reign - and you've achieved more in one afternoon."

"How old were you when you came to the throne?"

"40. Why?"

Lena, who sat on the foot of the queen's bed, stared at Liz in awe, "So you're 50 now?"

Amy was putting her hair up as she took a seat next to Mandy on the chaise at the foot of the bed, "You have to tell me what you use."

"They slowed my body clock. Keeps me looking like the stamps," Liz explained.

The Doctor sat on the bed, still holding the mask, " And you always wear this in public?"

"Undercover's not easy when you're me. The autographs, the bunting."

"Air-balanced porcelain. Stays on by itself, cos it's perfectly sculpted to your face..."

"Yeah, so what?"

The Doctor sighed, "Oh, Liz. So everything."

Suddenly, the door of the bedroom opened up and four hooded men entered, one being the same man from the marketplace earlier. Liz stood up from her bed in outrage, "What are you doing? How dare you come in here?"

"Ma'am, you have expressed interest in the interior workings of Starship UK. You will come with us now."

"Why would I do that?"

The men's face spun to show the angry face of a Smiler.

"How can they be Smilers?" Liz blinked.

"Half Smiler, half human," the Doctor explained.

"Whatever you creatures are, I am still your queen. On whose authority is this done?" she demanded from the men.

"The highest authority, Ma'am."

"I _am_ the highest authority."

"Yes, ma'am. You must go now, Ma'am."

"Where?"

"The Tower, Ma'am."

Lena and Amy exchanged worried glances, but the two noticed the Doctor wore an unusual somber expression on his face...like he already knew what was going on.

~ 0 ~

The group was led into a large stone room in with machinery set up around. Amy noticed another grating where there were more creatures sprouting out, "Doctor, where are we?"

"The lowest point of Starship UK," he spun around with his arms out, "The dungeon."

"A bit too high-tech to be a dungeon, don't you think?" Lena questioned.

"Ma'am," the grey-haired man approached the group.

"Hawthorne! So this is where you hid yourself away. I think you've got some explaining to do," Liz crossed her arms.

Lena noticed the group of children working around the corners and frowned, "Why are there children down here?"

"Protesters and citizens of limited value are fed to the beast," Hawthorne answered, "For some reason, it won't eat the children. You're the first adults it's spared. You're very lucky."

"Somehow I don't feel very lucky," Lena mumbled and moved away.

"She's right," the Doctor agreed, "We're in the Torture chamber of the Tower of London. Lucky, lucky, lucky. Except it's not a torture chamber, is it?" he started examining the equipment, "Well, except it is. Except it isn't. Depends on your angle."

He joined Liz by an open 'well' with a rail around it, containing a creature that was most certainly alive.

"What's that?" Liz asked.

"Well, like I say, depends on the angle. It's either the exposed pain center of big fella's brain, being tortured relentlessly..."

"Or?"

"Or it's the gas pedal, the accelerator - Starship UK's go-faster button."

"I don't understand," Liz shook her head.

"Don't you? Try, go on," there was a sour tinge to the Doctor's tone. "The spaceship that could never fly, no vibration on deck. This creature - this poor, trapped, terrified creature. It's not infesting you, it's not invading - it's what you have instead of an engine. And this place down here is where you hurt it, where you torture it, day after day, just to keep it moving," he explained as an intermittent electrical beam shot down to the creature's exposed brain, "Tell you what," he moved to another well and lifted the grate, "Normally, it's above the range of human hearing," one of the the extensions of the creature broke free, "This is the sound none of you wanted to hear," he used the screwdriver and allowed the others to hear the creature's call.

"Stop it," Liz ordered and faced Hawthorne, "Who did this?"

"We act on instructions from the highest authority."

"I am the highest authority. The creature will be released, now. I said now!" Liz ordered again but no one moved, "Is anyone listening to me?"

"Liz, your mask," the Doctor reminded, still holding said mask.

"What about my mask?"

He tossed her the mask, "Look at it. It's old. At least 200 years old, I'd say."

"Yeah, it's an antique, so?"

"Yeah, an antique made by craftsmen over 200 years ago and perfectly sculpted to your face. They slowed your body clock, all right, but you're not 50. Nearer 300. And it's been a long old reign."

"Nah, it's ten years. I've been on this throne ten years."

"Ten years. And the same ten years over and over again, always leading you..." he took her by the hand and led her to the voting area, "Here," he pointed to the forget and abdicate buttons.

Liz gasped and looked at Hawthorne, "What have you done?"

"Only what you have ordered. We work for you, Ma'am. The Winders, the Smilers, all of us," Hawthorne turned on the screen of the voting area and another Liz 10 appeared on a recording.

" _If you are watching this...If I am watching this, then I have found my way to the Tower Of London,_ " the real Liz sat down, " _The creature you are looking at is called a Star Whale. Once, there were millions of them. They lived in the depths of space and, according to legend, guided the early space travelers through the asteroid belts. This one, as far as we are aware, is the last of its kind. 'And what we have done to it breaks my heart," the rest of the group moved behind Liz and listened silently to the recording, "The Earth was burning. Our sun had turned on us, and every other nation had fled to the skies. Our children screamed as the skies grew hotter. And then it came, like a miracle. The last of the star whales. We trapped it, we built our ship around it, and we rode on its back to safety. If you wish our voyage to continue, then you must press the "forget" button. Be again the heart of this nation, untainted. If not, press the other button. Your reign will end, the Star Whale will be released, and our ship will disintegrate. I hope I keep the strength to make the right decision_."

"I voted for this?" Amy realized and glanced at the Doctor, "Why would I do that?"

"Because you knew if we stayed here, I'd be faced with an impossible choice. Humanity or the alien. You took it upon yourself to save me from that. And that was wrong," he sharply looked at her, "You don't _ever_ decide what I need to know."

"I don't even remember doing it," the ginger tried to reason.

"You did it. That's what counts."

"I'm... I'm sorry."

"Oh, I don't care. When I'm done here, you're going home," he declared and walked away.

"Why? Because I made a mistake? _One_ mistake? I don't even remember doing it. Doctor!"

He pretended to look at an instrument panel while the ginger spoke, "Yeah, I know. You're only human."

"Doctor, what are you doing?" Lena bit her lip, afraid she'd make him even more upset.

"The worst thing I'll ever do. I'm going to pass a massive electrical charge through the Star Whale's brain. Should knock out all its higher functions, leave it a vegetable. The ship will still fly, but the whale won't feel it."

"But that'll be like killing it and you don't do that," Lena quietly said, "That's not how the stories went with you. Avalon used to say-"

"Sorry Lena but those stories are _old_ , I'm old now..." he shook his head, "There are only three options here. One: I let the Star Whale continue in unendurable agony for hundreds more years. Two: I kill everyone on this ship. Three: I murder a beautiful, innocent creature as painlessly as I can. And then I find a new name, cos I won't be the Doctor any more."

"There must be something we can do, some other way," Liz said.

"Nobody talk to me. Nobody human has anything to say to me today!" he shouted and everyone went quiet. He got to work and no one spoke again for quite a while.

~ 0 ~

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned," Lena whispered as she neared the Doctor with a half-smile. "My Mum used to say that a lot to Avalon - she has quite the temper."

"She seems like the sort," the Doctor mumbled.

Lena gave a small nod of her head. "When my Mum was gone and she went into one of her fits...I used to tell her the quote, but now that she's gone too...I'll say it to you."

"Avalon's not gone, _you_ are," the Doctor corrected and looked up at the brunette, seeing the sadness building up in her blue eyes, "But you know you can always go back, or...take her with you."

She shook her head, "No, she deserves a life of her own, away from her annoying, ill sister."

At her long stare, he sighed, "Look, Lena, there's nothing to do. I can't allow this poor creature to continue on in agony."

"But that's not how the story goes," Lena insisted, "You didn't kill all those infected people on New Earth. You cured them, and look at the results?" she gestured to herself, "Because of you, Avalon and I were born, my brother was born...you are the reason I stand here today. You began this bloodline, so please. Just think calmly and I'm sure you can find another way."

The Doctor paused his work and looked at the equipment around, actually listening to Lena for a moment.

"Do you know why Avalon calls you the fairy tale man?" she then asked. The Doctor shook his head, showing he was fairly curious of the new nickname he'd garnered from the ginger. "She's done her research on you. She knows a lot of your adventures on Earth and she always loves the part where you save everyone. To her-" Lena leaned on the panel beside him, "-no matter how bad things were, no matter how dark it all seemed, you always found a way to save them. Are you about to prove her wrong?"

"That's...a lovely view, but...it's not me," the Doctor admitted, sadly. "If Avalon knew...the _real_ me...if you or Amy...you would change all those thoughts in a snap."

The way he spoke, and the emotion in his eyes, indicated for Lena that there was something he was holding back from her at the moment. And it was big. She reached for the Doctor's arm, a soft comforting smile on her face. "Well, I don't believe in fairy tales, and Amy just doesn't care. But let's keep Avalon thinking all those beautiful thoughts that could be true...even right now."

~ 0 ~

Amy sat beside Mandy against the wall, feeling awful of her earlier choices. But really, she did think the Doctor was overreacting just a tad. This was her _first_ adventure, shouldn't there be like a three mistakes and you're out sort of thing?

"Timmy!" Mandy jumped to her feet and ran over to her friend, "You made it, you're OK!" she hugged him but he said nothing, "It's me - Mandy."

Amy glanced over to see one of the feeler reaching for Mandy and started getting up...but the feeler gently tapped on Mandy's back and allowed her to pet it. Amy tilted her head as started to think...

"Doctor, stop," Amy shouted, startling the man from across, "Whatever you're doing, stop it now!" she hurried over to Liz and took her hand, "Sorry, Your Majesty, going to need a hand," she led the queen over to the voting area.

"Amy, no!" the Doctor dashed after them, "Don't!"

But Amy forced down Liz's hand on the 'abdicate' button. The whale bellowed and the entire ship shook, causing havoc on all levels.

"Amy, what have you done?" Lena asked, terrified as she looked around.

"Nothing at all. Am I right?" Amy nearly laughed at the oblivion of the others.

Hawthorne checked the readings over a monitor, "We've _increased_ speed."

"Yeah, well, you've stopped torturing the pilot. Gotta help," Amy smiled.

"It's still here? I don't understand," Liz shook her head.

"The Star Whale didn't come like a miracle all those years ago. It volunteered. You didn't have to trap it or torture it - that was all just you. It came because it couldn't stand to watch your children cry," Amy then turned to the Doctor, her face softening. "What if you were really old, and really kind and alone? Your whole race dead, no future. What couldn't you do then? If you were that old, and that kind, and the very last of your kind. You couldn't just stand there and watch children cry."

~ 0 ~

"You know, it was yours and Avalon's birthday last week," Amy was saying to Lena as they approached the Doctor on the observation deck in which he was silently (and lonely) looking out onto the stars.

"Really?" Lena frowned.

Amy nodded, "Avalon turned 21 years old last week..."

"I'm still 19, aren't I?" Lena looked at the Doctor, "Cos...it's only been a day for me."

"Fraid so, sorry," he nodded, "But hey, as a present you could choose any place you want after this."

Lena smiled, "Thank you. Maybe we can go to New Earth? Dad never wanted to take us into the city."

"Consider it done," he said and she beamed.

"What did Avalon do for her birthday, then?" Lena curiously asked Amy. The ginger looked to the side while making a face both the Doctor and Lena caught, "Amy?" Lena raised an eyebrow.

"You know how Mel is..." Amy began and Lena groaned.

"Dear Lord I may just snatch Avalon and tie her up in the TARDIS!" Lena threw her head back in frustration, "Mel is a bad influence and she knows it!"

"What happened?" the Doctor asked, wanting to give the other ginger a chance. Perhaps it had been a nice birthday...

"Look, Rory and I, we were there the entire time," Amy began, facing Lena, "They drank, but we were there making sure nothing bad happened."

"Drank?" Lena sighed, "What?"

"It's the big 21, did you expect orange juice?" Amy raised an eyebrow, "We went to a pub, and Mels introduced Avalon to nearly every type of drink. Rory and I had a couple too, nothing bad. In the end though, we had to sort of...carry Avalon back home. Your dad wasn't too happy."

"And Mels?" Lena had to ask, though her stance on Mel wasn't too pleasurable she did still cared for the troublemaker and never wanted anything bad to happen to her.

"She's got more tolerance from experience."

"So for her grand 21st birthday, she got drunk?" the Doctor asked, "That doesn't sound very, um...nice.."

"It's not," Lena confirmed, "It's really, really not. I want Avalon to live her life but not like this. She's already corrupted because of me and now she's..." she shook her head and walked away.

"Lena!" Amy called but the brunette waved her off and went on her way. Amy sighed, "That didn't go so well," she turned to the Doctor, "Do you think you could help?"

"How?"

Amy tilted her head, sharply looking at him, "You met Avalon. She steals for Lena, the reasons why she's been in jail is because of Lena. She's not bad or anything, she just loves her sister too much. Plus, her mother died and she needed her, she _still_ needs her. Avalon can say whatever she wants, do whatever she wants but the reality is she's screaming for a doctor to come help her. Be it, no raggedy man?"

It all sounded great, and the Doctor really did want to help Avalon in however he could...he just didn't know exactly how. "What can _I_ do?"

Amy held Liz's mask to him and smiled, "Do what you did here. Help one more child."

~ 0 ~

"No one answered," Lena sighed as she hung up the TARDIS phone.

The Doctor stood beside her, having asked the brunette if she would like to at least call and make sure her family was alright. Lena didn't actually intend on talking, though. She only wanted to hear someone's voice, preferably her twin sister's...but no one answered.

"This is all my fault," Lena mumbled and walked away, heading for the closed doors.

"Why do you say that?" he turned and went after her.

She opened the doors and looked out to the beautiful stars ahead of them, "Do you see all those stars out there?" he nodded, "I'm not the one that should be standing here. I'm not the one who deserves to have met Liz 10...or be traveling through time and space," she looked at him softly, "I'm not the one you should have taken."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, though he had a pretty good idea of what it was.

"You can clearly tell I'm not made for traveling like this. I'm terrified of everything and I barely talk to strangers. This..." she gestured to the place, "...this is not my dream - it's not my fairy tale. This is Avalon's. Once again, I steal bits and pieces of her life...and I realize it too late."

"You're not stealing anything, Lena-"

"Oh but I am," she hugged herself and faced the stars once more, "I've always done that to Avalon, ever since we were little kids. My parents sometimes wouldn't let her go out and play with Amy, Rory or Mels because I was sick and I'd want to go out with her too. Then there were times where I knew Avalon needed mum, she was just scared of a bad dream or she simply wanted to spend time with her...but Mum was with _me_ , taking care of me because I was ill," Lena swallowed as her tears built up in her eyes, "And then Mum died on us, she left us alone and no one felt lonelier than Avalon. But I didn't stop there, no," she bitterly laughed, "As a single father with three children, my Dad placed Avalon in charge of me and our brother while he worked. She's had to juggle this pseudo-motherhood thing with her own life. And because money's short, money's always been short without Mum, Avalon resorted to stealing for me. She's been in jail plenty of times and each time my Dad nearly chews her head off..and it's _my_ fault. Today I stand here, in the place I just know Avalon's always wanted to see: the inside of the blue box. But _I'm_ here, I'm taking her place again...and it's not fair."

"I'm so sorry you think like that," the Doctor sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder, "But I know that Avalon doesn't think that."

"I don't know how what my sister thinks," Lena shrugged, "I actually don't know anything about her," she turned to face him, "You know I don't even know what she wants to be. A teacher? An actress? I don't know, nobody knows. And you want to know why? Because she's too busy looking after me to make her own life. All day, she carries around her little journal that my mum gave her and she writes in it and I have no idea what she's thinking. But I know it's got to do with me, cos it always is. Lena needs new pills, Lena needs her inhaler, Lena has appointment...always about me and never about Avalon."

"Then what do you want to do?" the Doctor asked, half-smiling at her, "Do you want to go home and try to fix that? Or..."

"I want her to take my place in this box," she declared, "I should have thought of it before. Take Avalon and leave me on Earth with my family. I want you to travel and take her anywhere she wants. Far away from Earth. I want her to live without me barring up her life."

"I think I got a better idea," he raised a finger, "How about we take Avalon and _you_ show her the stars."

"Me?"

"Mhm, it sounds to me like both twin sisters need to make their own lives. What better place than here? You show your sister a life not dedicated to you and I'll just be the driver...a bad one, but a fun one!"

She chuckled, "You'd like her, you know. She can definitely remind you of who you are...and if not she'd beat you up until you remembered."

The Doctor laughed, "Thanks but I could do without the beating up."

"I think you'll get along just fine. So, you wouldn't mind bringing in another Reynolds?"

The Doctor shook his head, "Nope. I frankly think it might be fun."

"Oh thank you," Lena hugged him, "You really have no idea how much you'll be helping me."

"Hey, isn't that was a big brother is supposed to do?"

"I don't know I only have a younger one," she pulled away, "And Gavin's a horrible nightmare!"

"I'll try my best to be a good one, I promise," he raised his hand as he made his promise.

"Thank you, big brother," Lena chuckled as she tested the word out, "Now c'mon, there's a certain ginger waiting for us!" she shut the doors and yanked him towards the console.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

It's been a while I know, and I'm sorry! I was on vacation with horrible wifi but I'm back now! I know there wasn't any Avalon but she's a-coming next chapter and I hope you'll love her! In the meanwhile, you got a jist of who Lena Reynolds is. Let me know what you think! :)

 **For the Review:**

Thanks! I hope you keep thinking the same with the upcoming chapters! :)


	3. The Trial Trip

**June 2010.**

Avalon Reynolds walked down the solitary street of her house in the night, wearing a blue coat with a long purse over her shoulder. It was pretty quiet except for the sounds of her clicking heels...and her sniffles. She went up the small steps leading up to her front door and stopped to dig in her purse for her key.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon," she mumbled, her view partially blurred by her tears, "Oh c'mon."

She heard the sounds of footsteps behind her and quickly turned around with a threatening glare, "Who's out-" her eyes widened when she saw the man who was now coming up the small steps. "Fairy tale man..." she breathed.

"Avalon," the Doctor half-smiled. He would've been more happy to see her when she didn't have a face stained with tears.

"You're here..." Avalon stepped forwards, reaching out to touch his face, "It's you."

"Y-yes," he nodded slowly, looking at her hand with wide eyes.

He missed Avalon's face turn into a glare and suddenly found himself slapped with all her might, "You murderer!" she started to yell. "You took my sister! You hurt her!"

"Murderer!? What!?" the Doctor put a hand on his cheek, appalled at what he was hearing.

"I trusted you and you took advantage of that! You stole her and then _killed_ her!" she started smacking him on the chest. "How could you!? You're the fairy tale man! You're not supposed to kill us!"

"SHUSH!" he slammed his hand on her mouth and pushed her against the door, "All you're saying is complete _lies_. So you're going to shut it and _listen_ to me," he reached inside his pocket and took out his screwdriver. Avalon watched him sonic the door behind her, unaware she was practically free with only her mouth still covered up. The Doctor pulled her off the door and opened it up, pushing her inside the house before she decided to yell nonsense again.

"What are you doing?" Avalon wearily watched him close the door.

"Simply talking, see?" he pointed to his mouth, "Because I most certainly did not kill Lena."

"Then where is she?" she swallowed hard, her eyes adding more water to their already teary appearance, "It's been two years and there's not a trace of her anywhere. The last time I saw her she was with you-"

"She's okay, she's with Amy and I," the Doctor slowly said, seeing how worked up she already was.

"With you and... _Amy_?"

"In the TARDIS. You remember, right? The blue box?" she nodded, "Lena is in there and she's waiting for you."

"She's alive, then? You didn't kill her?"

"No, and look, if you want proof, here it is," he walked up to her, hand out with wiggling fingers. "Give me your phone."

"What for?" Avalon frowned, clutching her purse closer to her.

"To call Lena. Now give me!"

With a deeper frown, Avalon took her phone out of her purse and handed it to him. She intently watched as he used the sonic on it. "Why are you doing that to my phone? You're not gonna...bug it, are you?"

"Bug it?" the Doctor repeated. "Why would I do that?"

"I don't know," Avalon shrugged. "You tell me. You're the alien with my sister who's been missing for two years."

"To be fair, it's only been a day for Lena. I got the time wrong-"

" _Again_?" Avalon's voice made him wince.

"Yes, again," the Doctor mumbled then put the phone on his ear.

"Now what are you doing?" Avalon was close to snatching her phone from him. She hated when people touched her stuff no matter who it was.

"Calling the TARDIS," the Doctor held a finger for her to be quiet as the line was picked up, "Hey Lena," Avalon lightly gasped at the name, "Yes, your sister seems to believe that I killed you and I would really appreciate if you could fix that issue. Thank you."

He held the phone out to her, now on speaker, "Avalon?" Lena's voice called. Avalon opened her mouth but only a small noise made it out, her tears already streaming down her face again. "Look, Avalon, I'm sorry for putting you into this kind of situation. I'm okay, I promise. The Doctor's been taking real good care of me. I was supposed to come and get you but...I got scared. The Doctor offered to bring you in. So, please come. Please? I miss you, sis. Oh! And please don't kill the Doctor, for me?"

"We're on our way," the Doctor said to Lena before hanging up.

As soon as the phone was hung up Avalon dropped to her knees with her arms around herself and quietly cried, now partially happy. The Doctor bent down in front of her, "I'm sorry you thought you lost your sister. She thought she was doing you good to stay away."

"Stay away? _Why_?" Avalon's voice cracked, "I love her! She's my sister!"

"It's not my place to explain. But come on," he gently stood her to her feet, "You can go and hug her and tell her how much you've missed her."

"Why did you take her?" she tried to demand but her voice shook with her tears.

"She asked me to..."

"Why?"

"Avalon, I'd really rather let Lena do the explaining. It's really not my place."

"Fine, I'll go see her," she took a deep breath and started rubbing her tears away, "But you can't tell her you saw me crying."

"Why not?" he frowned in confusion.

"There's one thing you need to know about me, fairy tale man: Avalon Reynolds does not cry, ever."

"Ever?"

"Ever."

"But um..." the Doctor gestured to her tears, "...you sort of already, um..."

The face Avalon made told him immediately to be quiet, and for once he listened.

"Listen to me, alright? When Avalon cries she reminds her father of his late wife, and that makes him sad. When Avalon cries she scares her little brother, and makes Lena want to cry and therefore harms her health. So, Avalon doesn't cry, got it?"

"So what upsets Avalon?" the Doctor challenged, unable to help his smirk when she blinked in startle.

"What?"

"I asked what upsets you _you_? What makes Avalon cry that doesn't have to do with her family?"

"I-I don't know, what kind of question is that?" she shook her head, "Look, you stay here and I'll go change. I want to see my sister and I'd rather not do it in the clothes I got dumped in. In fact, I'm gonna burn them."

The Doctor scoffed, " _Burn_ them? C'mon, Aval..." but he stopped at the face the ginger gave, "...you have a way to start a fire don't you?"

"I have a way to start a fire," she declared emotionless. "Stay here," she ordered and let her purse fall to the floor, "And you better not leave this time, got it?"

He raised his hands in surrender, "Got it."

She pointed a warning finger at him as she backed away into the hallway, "I mean it," he nodded and so went off the ginger.

The Doctor took a breath after the ginger was out of sight. She sure was a handle wasn't she? He took a look around the house and found it was a very nice, simple house for alien humans. There was one large couch set against the wall with a window above it, two couch-chairs perpendicular to the larger couch. There was a television set up across with a rather intricate wooden furniture piece around and several bright green plants.

As the Doctor moved up to pick up Avalon's purse, he noticed several photographs on the center table of the room. He walked over to a certain picture frame and picked it up; it was a photo of whom he could suppose were the twins' mother. The woman, Emmalina, was a brunette woman with blue eyes, a perfect future version of Lena if the Doctor had to describe. He then picked up another frame which turned out to be a family picture. There he could see where Avalon and her younger brother, Gavin, got their ginger hair - their father. He put both frames down and started moving further into the living room and spotted more frames over a mantle. Some included the Reynolds children together doing various activities. Young Gavin was in a soccer team. Another had Lena holding a paper with a curious art. In another, Avalon was smiling brightly holding a karate trophy.

"Why are you holding my purse?" the Doctor dropped said purse and the picture frame on the ground at the sound of Avalon's voice.

"Sorry, it was on the floor," he mumbled as he reached down to pick up what had spilled from the purse.

"No, don't touch that!" she exclaimed and startled him again. She quickly ran over and literally smacked his hand the moment it made contact with her journal, "Don't touch it, it's mine!" she hugged the journal and backed away, clutching the book against her chest.

"Okay, sorry," he raised his hands in defeat, the ginger seemed so worked up over a simple journal. If he was being quite honest, the journal wasn't even that pretty. It had a brown leather cover with a strap to keep it closed, its corners beaten up from apparent age. There were small childlike stickers on the cover and a small initial of 'A.H.R' on the lower center.

"Why do you have that?" Avalon nodded to the picture frame the Doctor still held in his hand.

"Sorry, I got curious, sort of my thing," he flashed a smile, "You do karate, then?"

"Yeah. Problem?"

The Doctor ignored the edginess in her question and shook his head. "You just didn't seem the type last time we met."

"While I do love myself the stories of the prince saving the princess, I know that sometimes a girl has to save herself," Avalon shrugged lightly. "And it's pretty fun to do so."

A wider smile spread across the Doctor's face.

"I still don't understand why Lena isn't here," she quietly said, her gaze slowly falling as she thought of the last two years of her life searching for her missing younger twin sister.

"She was busy traveling, but only one trip of course," the Doctor informed as he picked up Avalon's bag, "She missed her sister far too much to keep going alone."

"Is she okay? Has she had any relapses?"

"None," he answered and she half-smiled.

"So she was okay for two years? With no medical assistance at all?"

"Well...it hasn't exactly been two years for us, more like one day remember?"

Avalon nodded. "And you said...you said Amy was with you?"

"Yeah-"

"But how can that be?" she asked so quick that the Doctor was unable to finish his own response to her previous question. "I talked to her this afternoon."

"I sort of took her along with Lena and I."

"Why her?"

"Uhm, well..." the Doctor didn't want to disclose just yet about the crack in Amy's bedroom. But he also didn't want to hurt Avalon's feelings by making it look like he had chosen only Amy and Lena to travel with him.

"Forget it, that's the wrong question," Avalon suddenly took it back with a flushed face. "I want to see her, though. Because she had no business going out travelling _tonight_."

"When?"

"Why do you say it like that?" he raised an eyebrow, sensing there was something important about tonight than he knew apparently.

Avalon sharply looked at him, waiting for him to remember...unless he didn't _know_ because Amy _hadn't_ informed him nor Lena of what this night was...

"She didn't tell you anything?" she demanded, "Do you know what's happening tomorrow?"

"No, what is?"

"Oh I'm gonna kill her," she informed then headed for the door.

"Killing who, exactly?" the Doctor dreaded as he asked and followed her, bringing her purse.

"Amelia Pond, that's who," Avalon turned around and made him bump into her, "She's always doing this to him and I won't stand for it anymore," she opened the door and walked out, "Sonic the door and bring my purse!" she ordered as she hurried down the stairs.

"What? When did I turn into your servant?" the Doctor frowned as he watched her turn once she was on the street ground.

She half-smirked, "This is just me, fairy tale man. Now sonic that door and let's go," she motioned him to hurry.

"How do you even know what sonic can do!?"

"Cos you carry a sonic screwdriver," she shrugged. "And did you get a new one? Cos that's not the one you had two years ago. It was all small and...kind of stupid-looking-"

"Oi!" the Doctor pointed at her, offended on behalf of his previous incarnation.

"Oh let's go," she yanked him out the door and once again ordered him to sonic her door.

~ 0 ~

"What, we're supposed to fit in there?" Avalon pointed to the TARDIS while giving the Doctor a 'not gonna happen' look, "All of us?"

"Uh, yes," he nodded, gesturing for her to open the doors herself. He was excited to see what the ginger's expressions would be like upon seeing the interior.

Avalon scoffed however, crossing her arms, "Oh nice try fairy tale man but I am not getting in there."

"Why not? Lena is in there," he reminded her of the crucial fact.

"Oh and here you thought you'd get Avalon inside that little box where certain things could happen, huh?" she raised an eyebrow, "Well I'm not stupid, and that's not happening," she poked his chest with each word she spoke, "Now you take me to my sister right this instant!"

"I am but you don't want to get in!" he exclaimed, nearly cried of frustration. "I thought you knew the story of the TARDIS!?"

"That it's a box, yeah, but I don't know how it works," Avalon folded her arms, expectantly waiting for him to get her to Lena.

"Avalon, I promise you Lena is inside. If you would just-"

Avalon glanced back at the TARDIS. "Fine, but you have to over _there_!" she pointed a finger to the side.

"Why? It's my TARDIS," he frowned.

"Because I say so and I don't want you and me in there if it does turn out to be a small box. So go wait over there!"

"It's not, it's really not!"

"Well, then let me see that and you are more than welcome to come back."

"But this is _my_ ship! You can't just tell the pilot to ' _go wait over there'_ ," he mimicked her voice, promptly getting a small amused smile out of the ginger, "I'm the one inviting _you_ in so I get to stay right _here_ ," he pointed to his current spot.

With a raised eyebrow, Avalon straightened herself and raised her head, challenging him to see how long it would take for him to give up and just follow her order.

"Are we really going to do this?" the Doctor frowned after getting the message.

Avalon just waited.

"Avalon Reynolds, you're acting more like a child right now than when you were seven!"

Avalon waited.

"Avalon! C'mon!"

The ginger did not budge.

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair in utter frustration, "Oh my god," he turned on his feet and moved to stand where she'd pointed him to. Avalon smirked and struggled not to laugh. "There!" the Doctor waved his hands once he arrived to the precise spot.

"Thank you," Avalon said and turned to face the TARDIS. Her blue eyes gazed the box over as a big smile spread across her face. Slowly, she reached to touch the door and gasped once her fingers made contact with it. "It's the TARDIS..." she whispered to herself, her joy doubling within the next second. She finally pushed the doors open and poked her head inside. "Oh my..." she gasped at the bright orangey interior. She never imagined what actually laid inside the blue box - the stories never said. Her eyes widened to the impossible when she was fully inside and saw the console room.

"It's good, isn't it?" she gasped and turned when the Doctor spoke from behind. He stood just outside the box with a smirk that screamed 'Ha!' to her.

"Oh you were waiting for me to react like this, weren't you?" she raised an eyebrow, her shock fading away.

"Yes," he stepped inside and closed the doors behind him.

"Is this how it goes, then?"

"How what goes?"

"You try to impress anyone who comes in here?" she turned away and continued to look around, quietly making her way further into the room, "Show off your box that's bigger on the inside...and then what happens after that?"

"I don't try to impress..." the Doctor tried to make the argument but found it was rather useless as it was one of his most exciting parts as a time traveler, "...alright, I do. But what happens next is entirely up to you. You could simply go back there," he pointed back to the door, "And continue on with your boring Earth life _or_..." he smirked, "...you can stay and see anything you want in the universe."

"Perfect fairy tale, isn't that right?" she smirked back, looking at the upper levels. "But you know, I get the feeling one of the women you've picked up is being blinded by this fairy tale, and it's _not_ me," she sharply looked at him for a second. "Which is kind of disappointing, actually."

"How do you mean?"

"It's quite simple, Doctor. You don't know what what tomorrow is and that's all I need to know," she sighed and moved to the console, "You know I remember your story, the one from New Earth. Saved all those people, then when New Earth was quarantined you saved them again. But not one of the stories included this," she smiled at the controls and the Doctor dared to believe he'd seen a mischievous glint in them. "What the!?" she'd been startled when the rotor started moving up and down. "For once I didn't touch anything!" she backed away with hands raised up.

"She likes you," the Doctor chuckled and reached for her hand, intending on placing it on the rotor.

"Waiiiit a second!" she pulled her hand back. "What is that?"

"She's alive, Avalon," the Doctor gestured to the entire place, making her eyes go wide again. "And her humming is just her way of communicating."

"But she doesn't actually...talk? With words?"

"No, she can't do that."

"So then how do you differentiate when she's mad at you?"

"I...take it when she makes the console spark."

"Ha, she blows sparks at you?" Avalon laughed and then voluntarily placed a hand on the console's rotor. "That's a cool box, alright. Mind if I take her for a spin?"

"You wish!"

But the TARDIS hummed suddenly, making the Doctor's mouth fall open.

"Oh! Did she just say yes!?" Avalon clapped her hands excitedly.

"I can't believe you," the Doctor muttered to the console. "Trader!"

"Fairy tale man, does your box like me more than it likes you?" Avalon was on the verge of teasing when she heard her sister's voice calling for her.

"Avalon?" Lena stood at the second level rails, her eyes watering up with joy as she saw her ginger twin sister below.

"Lena," Avalon gasped, dropping her purse to the floor as Lena hurried down the stairs, "You're okay!" she ran like mad to join her sister.

The twins met in an ecstatic, tight hug where Lena cried and Avalon did her best _not_ to cry.

"I am so, so, so, so sorry for making you think I was murdered!" Lena sobbed as Avalon pulled away, "I only wanted to help but I think I made things worse and hurt you, Dad and Gavin and I'm so sorry for that, please forgive me!"

"I don't care about of that, silly," Avalon took her sister's face in her hands, needing to see for herself that Lena was safe and okay, "I'm just glad you're okay. You're okay right? Nothing hurts? No shortness of breath? You're fine?"

Lena nodded, "Yeah, I feel much better now. Heck, I even have a big brother now."

"Excuse me?" Avalon raised an eyebrow. Lena just chuckled and turned her to the direction of the Doctor. Avalon scoffed, "Ha! _Him_? No, no, no, that won't work. He's an idiot."

"You're not very nice, are you?" the Doctor sighed. "I thought I was the fairy tale man?"

"Doesn't stop you from being an idiot who happens to save the world," Avalon shrugged carelessly. "But honestly, I don't think you have the makings to be a big brother to my sister."

"Why not?"

"Because she needs a lot of care that only _I_ know how to give. She's sick and she needs a specific treatment and special attention."

The Doctor looked at Lena who simply bore the face expression of 'see what I mean?'.

"Lena you can't stay here, it's far too risky," Avalon turned to Lena, "We need to go home. Dad's finally going to smile again when he sees I've brought you back."

"I don't want to go," Lena stepped away from her sister, "I want to stay with the Doctor."

"But why?"

"Because...because..." Lena looked at the Doctor, needing that courage to say at least part of her words.

Seeing the brunette needing some help, the Doctor walked over and put an arm around Lena, "Because your sister dreams of a different life, for herself and you."

" _Me_?" Avalon pointed at herself, far more confused now.

"I want you to see what I've seen," Lena whispered, "I want my big twin sister to enjoy her life for once."

"My life? I enjoy my life...very much!"

"No you don't," Lena shook her head, "And I know you'd never say it because of me. But the Doctor has offered to take me with him, and _you_. He can show us things you always dreamed of, and don't try to say you haven't dreamed of traveling," she had said when she saw Avalon opening her mouth to contradict, "I know you have dreams that you'd never dare to make true because of me so this is like a sort of compromise, perhaps a taste of those dreams."

And hopefully one day Avalon could finally leave her home to make her own life too, Lena thought.

"So what do you say, Avalon? Would you like to see a taste of the world? Universe, actually," the Doctor asked the ginger.

"But I... _we_...we can't..." Avalon began, shaking her head, "There's a lot to do back home, starting with tomorrow. I mean, tomorrow there's a big we-"

"The TARDIS travels through _time_ ," the Doctor reminded her, "Fourteen years can be five minutes on Earth. Or, a couple of months can be a simple day on Earth."

"C'mon Avalon, say yes?" Lena questioned.

"Perhaps a trial trip could alter your answer?" the Doctor tried, seeing the hesitant ginger backing away.

"How's that work?" Avalon asked.

"We could go somewhere, anywhere you want. At the end of the day, you decide whether or not you'd like to continue traveling. Though it would be independent of Lena's decisions of course."

"But Lena can't stay..." Avalon insisted, frustrated that he couldn't see her twin sister couldn't be traveling about in her state. She needed to be in a clam environment with full attention.

"I think that's more of Lena's decision, don't you think?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow, Lena looking away from her sister.

"But...but she's..."

"Avalon?" they heard Amy's voice from the corridor's, soon the other ginger stepping out.

"Amelia Pond!" Avalon frowned, forgetting the current conversation and marching over, "How dare you come in here when you're getting ma-"

Amy quickly clasped her hand over Avalon's mouth, shooting the Doctor and Lena a nervous smile, "Ha, we had an argument the day before. Still quite peeved with me - OW!" she jerked her hand away and rubbed her palm.

"Don't you _ever_ do that again," Avalon snapped and straightened herself, "I've already had one hand over me tonight and that was enough. Amy, you and I have to seriously talk."

"Yes, yes, I know," Amy rubbed her palm, frowning, "I know okay?"

"What's going on?" Lena called, upset to see her sister and friend arguing over something unknown, but apparently important.

Suddenly, a phone began ringing, cutting the conversation short.

"Is that a phone?" Amy asked, confused.

"How do you think we contacted Avalon?" Lena gestured.

"Ladies, I will remind you that this is indeed a _phone_ box," the Doctor sighed and went to the console, shooting Avalon a small smirk, "Would you like to answer?"

"Why me?" she frowned, confused.

"You're on trial, what better way to begin with a phone call from _anyone_ in the world. How about it then?"

"Always trying to impress, aren't you?" she rolled her eyes and moved for the console, "Alright, fine. But fair warning, I'm not impressed easily."

"You were when you were seven."

"I grew up, so did my standards," she responded with a smirk.

"Then I'll just try harder," the Doctor matched her smirk and held the phone to her.

Avalon rolled her eyes and took the phone. "Hello?" she blinked rapidly at the voice on the other line, "Sorry, who? No, seriously, _who_?" she muffled the phone against her shoulder and shot the Doctor a suspicious look, "Apparently, it's the Prime Minister."

"First the Queen, now the Prime Minister. Get about, don't you?" Amy called, getting a confused look from Avalon, "We met Queen Elizabeth XX."

Avalon's eyes widened for a second as she looked back at the Doctor, "What?"

"Which Prime Minister?" he calmly asked her.

"Which Prime Minister am I speaking to, exactly?" she asked on the phone, "Right, the British one but which one exactly?" She raised an eyebrow and held the phone to the Doctor, "I'm sorry, you have Winston Churchill on the line?"

"Oh, he's a nice one. Impressed yet?" the Doctor took the phone from her, unable to stop himself from smirking.

Avalon licked her bottom lip, unwilling to give in so easily. "Not one bit," she whipped her head to the side, her ginger locks bouncing with the action.

The Doctor playfully rolled his eyes, oh he knew she was a little impressed, which was good. He liked when people in his TARDIS were impressed. He held the phone to his ear and took the call, "Hello, dear. What's up?"

"Tricky situation, Doctor. Potentially very dangerous. I think I'm going to need you," Winston Churchill declared.

"Don't worry about a thing, Prime Minister. We're on our way," the Doctor hung up and face the three women he was now, apparently, going to be traveling with, "Well Avalon, you want to be impressed? How's about Winston Churchill?"

"Mm, I don't know..." she shrugged casually.

"Avalon, don't be like that," Lena quietly said, "He's trying to show you a bit of history, by the looks of it. Be nice."

"Alright, fine," Avalon crossed her arms, looking straight at the Doctor, "Let the trial begin, fairy tale man."

~ 0 ~

The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS to soldiers with pointing guns at him. As the soldiers parted for Winston, the Doctor held his arm in introduction to the ginger on trial as she stepped out behind, "Avalon, Winston Churchill."

"Oh no way," Avalon flashed a smile of disbelief. Once she realized it though, she dropped the smile and acted as nonchalant as possible.

"Doctor? Is it you?" Winston eyed the Doctor for a minute while Lena and Amy stepped out of the TARDIS.

"Oh, Winston, my old friend!" the Doctor went to shake hands but Winston motioned with his hand for something else, making the Doctor chuckle, "Ah, every time!"

"What's he after?" Amy asked.

"TARDIS key, of course."

"Think of what I could achieve with your remarkable machine, Doctor! The lives that could be saved!" Winston exclaimed.

"Ah, doesn't work like that," the Doctor closed the doors of the TARDIS.

"Must I take it by force?" Winston motioned to the surrounding guns aimed at them.

"Actually, could you give the order for them to lower those things," Avalon instructed sternly, "They make my sister nervous and I don't like it when my sister's nervous."

"Avalon," Lena sighed.

Here was her older twin sister in _history_ meeting _Winston Churchill_...and Avalon was thinking of _her_. This was exactly what Lena wished she could change in a snap of a finger. Avalon needed to understand that she could make her own life now, that she was free to do what she wanted. But Lena knew she couldn't change it alone nor in a snap of a finger. She would need a lot of help, and she knew the Doctor could be the extra help. Well that wasn't true exactly, there was one more person who could help Avalon...but he was currently still on Earth with no idea where they were.

"At ease," Winston gave the order and down went the rifles.

"You rang?" the Doctor asked.

~ 0 ~

The group strode through the corridor as an air raid was currently going on up above. As the group walked, the Doctor held Winston's cane, twirling it around and whatnot. Behind him were the Reynolds twins, one looking around in awe yet protective of her younger twin. Amy bit her nail nervously beside the twins, hoping to God she could get Avalon to the side before she spilled what should _not_ be spilled just yet.

"So you've changed your face, again," Winston remarked to the Doctor.

"Yeah, well, had a bit of work done."

"Is that the bit where you change your face?" Avalon neared the Doctor just to ask that question. But before the Doctor could even open his mouth, she went on. "Because my parents said that my whatever-times-grandparents had said you looked different. Like...like taller and..." she eyed him, "...far skinnier-" she shook her head.

"Hey!" went the Time Lord, causing the ginger to blink rapidly.

Lena decided it was time to turn the conversation around. "I got it! Cabinet War Rooms, right?"

"Yup, top secret heart of the War Office, right under London," the Doctor agreed and she beamed. Avalon noticed the small moment with intrigue but stayed silent.

"You're late, by the way," Winston remarked.

"Ha, see that hasn't changed," Avalon remarked casually, "Twelve years...fourteen years...how much was he late by this time?" she asked Winston.

"I rang him a month ago."

"Well, not too shabby," Avalon smirked.

"It's a Type 40 TARDIS," the Doctor argued, "I'm just running her in."

"Excuses."

"Avalon," Amy lightly scolded.

"Excuse me, sir, got another formation coming in, Prime Minister. Stukas, by the look of them," an officer stopped by Winston.

"We shall go up top then, Group Captain! We'll give 'em what for! Coming, Doctor?" Winston turned to the Doctor.

"Why?"

Winston snatched back his cane, "I have something to show you."

The Doctor looked back at the trio of women and mouthed 'Oooh', making Amy and Lena giggle. Avalon looked at Lena and softly smiled, it had actually been quite a while since Lena had giggled like that...probably since their mother had died.

~ 0 ~

Winston started the lift and puffed on his cigar, the Doctor waving the smoke away while Avalon covered Lena's mouth for safety.

"We stand at a crossroads, Doctor. Quite alone, with our backs to the wall. Invasion is expected daily. So I will grasp with both hands anything that will give us an advantage over the Nazi menace," Winston declared, the Doctor sensing a bit more than just a simple determination.

"Such as?" he asked.

Winston opened up the gate, "Follow me."

The group found them selves on the rooftop of the building which was covered in sandbags. A man in a white coat stood on a higher level with binoculars as he looked up to the sky.

"Wow," Amy breathed, Lena doing the same. Avalon stepped a couple feet ahead of the group, silently looking around.

"Doctor, this is Professor Edwin Bracewell, head of our Ironsides Project," Winston gestured to the man on the higher level.

The Doctor held up his hand with a 'V' for victory just as the man in the coat waved at them, "How d'you do?"

A formation of German planes were approaching up in the sky just as Bracewell had looked up again. Avalon slowly walked towards the edge and looked over the city of London with its large barrage balloons as bombs dropped.

"Impressed now, Avalon?" the Doctor called as he watched her looking out.

"It's history..." the ginger mumbled and turned away, shaking her head. She looked up at Bracewell and frowned, "Can we go up there?" she called.

"What for?" Bracewell curiously glanced at the ginger for a minute.

"I want to see it even higher..."

"She's on her way, Doctor," Lena excitedly looked up at the man beside her.

The Doctor watched the ginger with a slight pride as she climbed up to the higher level.

"Ready, Bracewell?" Winston called.

"Aye-aye, sir," Bracewell gave the thumbs up sign, "Miss, you may want to step to the side," he gestured for Avalon to move to their right. Carefully, she did and leaned forwards to see the city again, "On my order! Fire!"

From within a sandbagged area on the higher level, laser beams were fired up to the sky and destroyed completely the German planes.

"What was that?" Amy asked, a bit confused.

Avalon faced the sandbagged area, a faint remembrance of that sound.

"That wasn't human, that was never human technology," the Doctor frowned as he tried working out the beam, "That sounded like... Show me! Show me what that was!" he quickly hurried up to the ladder and climbed it, "Avalon, get away from there," he called as he finally reached up.

"Shush," Avalon was trying to peer over the railing into the sandbagged area.

"Advance!" Bracewell gave the order.

"Our new secret weapon!" Winston exclaimed.

Avalon leaned back as a Dalek trundled right in front of her. It was painted in Army Khaki with a utility belt around it and a small Union Flag under its eyestalk, the light on top of its dome completely covered. "Oh..." Avalon blinked with wide eyes as the eyestalk of the Dalek nearly touched her, "...this is new. Don't remember this in history books."

"What do you think? Quite something, eh?" Winston called to the Doctor with pride.

"What are you doing here?" the Doctor demanded from the Dalek.

"I am your soldier," the Dalek answered.

"What?"

"I am your soldier."

"Stop this. Stop now! You know who I am, you always know," the Doctor snapped.

"Your identity is unknown."

"Perhaps I can clarify things here, this is one of my Ironsides," Bracewell stepped forwards.

"Your what?" the Doctor looked back at the man.

"Are you sure that's their name?" Avalon frowned, feeling a faint tickle in her mind, if that's an actual thing, "Cos they look sort of..." she trailed off as she tried finding the right words.

"You will help the Allied cause in any way that you can?" Bracewell asked the Daleks.

"Yes," the Dalek replied.

"Until the Germans have been utterly smashed?"

"Yes."

"And what is your ultimate aim?"

"To win the war!"

~ 0 ~

The Doctor stared at the diagrams and blueprints presented to him in Winston's office, all showing how these 'Ionsides' were created. But of course he didn't believe a word, "They're Daleks! They're called Daleks!"

"They are Bracewell's Ironsides, Doctor! Look!" Winston pointed to the facts on the papers, "Blueprints, statistics, field-tests, photographs. He invented them!"

"Invented them? Oh, no, no, no!"

"Yes! He approached one of our brass hats a few months ago. Fella's a genius."

"A Scottish genius, too," Amy cut in, "Maybe you should listen to..."

"Shh!" the Doctor shooed the ginger away, "He didn't invent them! They're alien."

"Alien?" Winston raised an eyebrow.

Just as the Doctor opened up his mouth to explain the actual origins of the blasted things, a Dalek glided by the open doorway. It stopped for a moment to view the action then continued on its way.

"And totally hostile!" the Doctor continued as soon as the Dalek had gone.

"Precisely. They will win me the war!" Winston turned over a blueprint to show a propaganda poster with the image of a large Dalek.

~ 0 ~

The group followed Winston through the corridors, the Doctor adamantly calling after, "Why won't you listen? Why call me in if you won't listen to me?!"

"When I rang you a month ago, I must admit, I had my doubts. The Ironsides seemed too good to be true," Winston admitted.

"Yes! Right! So destroy them! Exterminate them!"

"But imagine what I could do with a hundred! A thousand!"

"I am imagining," the Doctor warily eyed a passing by Dalek, "Amy, tell him."

Amy blinked in surprise, "Tell him what?"

"About the Daleks!"

"What would I know about the Daleks?" she looked at the twins for some help, she didn't even know these things _existed_!

"Everything. They invaded your world, remember?" the Doctor looked at her sharply, "Planets in the sky, you don't forget that! Amy... Tell me you remember the Daleks."

"Nope, sorry," Amy shrugged.

"That's not possible," he looked at the twins, "Lena? Avalon? C'mon, you remember them right...?"

Lena shook her head, "Sorry, doesn't ring a bell."

"Avalon?" he raised an eyebrow at the ginger.

She scrunched her face as she tried to make memory, "Well...the beams, they were...sort of familiar familir-"

" _Yes_!" he nearly shouted, "Because they invaded your world!"

"I just..." she rubbed the side of her head, "...I'm sorry, it's like I want to remember but I can't."

"This is impossible," the Doctor concluded, unable to decide what was worse at the moment.

~ 0 ~

The group stood inside the map room where women were manning the radios and moving figures over the large map as needed.

"So they're up to something, but what is it? What are they after?" the Doctor asked, literally going crazy with the unknown answers and sudden amnesia with the girls.

"I'd like to know that too," Avalon declared and strolled over to a Dalek.

"Avalon!" the Doctor scolded but did no good as the ginger tapped the Dalek's casing.

The Dalek swiveled to focus its eyestalk on Avalon, "Can I be of assistance?"

"Oh definitely," Avalon crossed her arms, "See cos it's funny that I can't remember you but I _know_ you exist and you are most certainly not kind. Tell me, what have you done to my sister and friend's head? Why are you here? The Doctor says you're an alien, but is that true?"

"I am your soldier," the Dalek plainly said.

"Yeah but is there anything else you might want to add?" Avalon leaned forwards with a sharp look.

"Please excuse me. I have duties to perform," the Dalek glided away.

Avalon frowned, "Well I wasn't finished yet but I guess you were."

"Avalon, don't do that anymore!" Lena rushed over to her sister and hugged her, the Doctor going over to Winston in the meantime.

The Doctor plucked the cigar out of Winston's mouth, "Winston, Winston, please."

"We are waging total war, Doctor! Day after day, the Luftwaffe pound this great city like an iron fist."

"Wait till the Daleks get started," the Doctor mumbled.

"Men, women and children slaughtered. Families torn apart. Wren's churches in flames."

"Yeah? Try the Earth in flames!"

"I weep for my country, I weep for my empire. It is breaking my heart," Winston moved around the table as he observed the positions of the figures.

"But you're resisting, Winston! The whole world knows you're resisting! You're a beacon of hope," the Doctor followed the man around.

"But for how long? Millions of innocent lives will be saved if I use these Ironsides now!"

A Dalek neared the pair, "Can I be of assistance?"

The Doctor nearly exploded of frustration with the blasted creature beside them, "Shut it!" he pointed and looked at Winston, "Listen to me. Just listen! The Daleks have no conscience, no mercy, no pity. They are my oldest and deadliest enemy. You cannot trust them!"

"If Hitler invaded hell, I would give a favorable reference to the Devil! These machines are our salvation!" a siren sounded, "Oh, the all-clear. We are safe. For now," with that, Winston left.

"Doctor, it's the all-clear. Are you OK?" Lena softly asked as Amy, Avalon and her joined him.

He twisted an officer's cap in his hands as he watched the Dalek glide away, "What does hate look like?"

"Hate?"

"It looks like a Dalek. And I'm going to prove it," he tossed the cap before putting it on a desk as he walked out.

~ 0 ~

The group entered Bracewell's lab as the man worked. The Doctor quickly began checking everything out for anything that could back up his statements. Meanwhile, Avalon was sure to keep Lena at a safe distance from Bracewell, she too on the defensive side until everything was proven out.

"All right, Prof! The PM's been filling me in. Amazing things, these Ironsides of yours. Amazing. You must be very proud of them," the Doctor said as he sat down and began reading a file.

"Just doing my bit," Bracewell said, unaware of the suspicious looks given to his back.

Amy picked up a spanner, "Not bad for a Paisley boy."

"Yes, I thought I detected a familiar cadence, my dear," Bracewell looked over to the ginger and smiled.

"Mind my asking, actually I don't care either way, but how'd you come up with these things?" Avalon asked, "Where'd this idea come from in the first place?"

"How does the muse of invention come to anyone?"

The Doctor tossed the file he read onto the desk behind and stood up, "But you get a lot of these clever notions, do you?"

"Well, ideas just seem to teem from my head! Wonderful things! Like... let me show you," Bracewell showed the group a series of files as he explained, "Some musings on the potential of hypersonic flight. Gravity bubbles that could sustain life outside of the terrestrial atmosphere! Came to me in the bath!"

"And are these your ideas or _theirs_?"

"No, no, no, no. These robots are entirely under my control, Doctor. They are..." a Dalek brought Bracewell his tea, "Thank you...the perfect servant, and the perfect warrior."

"I don't know what you're up to, Professor, but whatever they've promised, you cannot trust them! Call them what you like, the Daleks are death!"

Winston entered the room with another Dalek, "Yes, Doctor. Death to our enemies! Death to the forces of darkness, and death to the Third Reich!"

"Yes, Winston, and death to everyone else too!" the Doctor turned to him, really about to pull out his own hair because no one would listen to him!

"Would you care for some tea?" a Dalek neared him with a cup of tea on a tray.

Suddenly, the Doctor upset the tray and startled everyone around him as it fell to the floor with a crash, "Stop this! What are you doing here? What do you want?" he shouted.

"We seek only to help you," the Dalek remained calm.

"To do what?"

"To win the war."

"Really? _Which_ war?"

"I do not understand."

"This war, against the Nazis? Or your war? The war against the rest of the Universe? The war against all life-forms that are not Dalek?"

"I do not understand. I am your soldier."

"Oh, yeah? OK," the Doctor turned around and picked up a giant spanner, "OK, soldier, defend yourself!" he started banging the spanner against the Dalek furiously. Everyone behind was in a mixture of horror and fear.

"Doctor, what the devil...?!" Bracewell stepped forwards, appalled.

"You do not require tea?" the Dalek simply said while the Doctor continued striking it.

"Stop it! Prime Minister, please!" Bracewell pleaded for someone to make the man stop.

"Doctor, please, these machines are precious," Winston tried but the Doctor wouldn't desist.

"Come on! Fight back! You want to, don't you? You know you do!" he continued shouting at the Daleks.

"Doctor, be careful!" Amy tried reaching for him but Avalon pulled her back along with Lena.

"I must protest!" Bracewell exclaimed.

"What are you waiting for? You hate me. You want to kill me. Well, go on! Kill me. Kill me!" the Doctor yelled angrier and angrier as the seconds ticked by.

"Please desist from striking me. I am your soldier," the Dalek said.

"You are my enemy!" the Doctor punctuated his sentences with a hard strike each time, "And I am yours! You are everything I despise! The worst thing in all creation. I've defeated you time and time again, I've defeated you. I sent you back into the void! I saved the whole of reality from you! I am the Doctor! And you are the _Daleks_!" he kicked the Dalek and it rolled backwards.

"Correct. Review testimony," the Dalek said as it stood still again.

Everyone heard the Doctor's last sentence on playback, "'I am the Doctor. And you are the Daleks!'

"Testimony? What are you talking about, testimony?" the real Doctor asked.

"Transmitting testimony now," the Dalek said.

"Transmit what, where?"

"Testimony accepted!" the Dalek said.

"Marines! Marines! Get in here!" Winston called and quickly two Marines came into the room...only for one to be shot and killed by the Dalek.

"Stop it! Stop it, please! What are you doing?" Bracewell demanded, "You are my Ironsides!"

"We are the Daleks!" the other Dalek corrected.

"But I created you!"

"No," the Dalek shot off Bracewell's hand to reveal a stump of wires and circuits, "We created _you_!"

Both Daleks chanted in unison, "Victory! Victory! Victory!" they teleported out of the room.

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; _you_ are the one who gets burned," Avalon nearly shouted, the Doctor wincing at how different that quote had been used against him now, "I have a temper myself but you sure outdo me, sir. Look what's happened?"

"I don't understand what happened..." Lena confessed, feeling slightly better when Amy agreed with a nod.

"Idiot, now I'm sure," Avalon declared.

"Yeah, fine, you're right," the Doctor turned to her, irritated, "I wanted to know what they wanted, what their plan was. _I_ was their plan!"

"So then how do we fix it?" Avalon put her hands on her hips, expectantly waiting for the solution.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor entered the room where the TARDIS had been placed in and headed down the stairs towards it, ""Testimony accepted!" That's what they said! My testimony."

The group followed after him with Winston, "Don't beat yourself up. You were right," Amy offered.

"Yes, except now they want to kill us," Avalon reminded.

"Oh stop being such a prune!" Amy turned to her.

"Oh let's not go making arguments with me Amelia Pond," Avalon pointed warningly, "You still have a full explanation to give, let's not forget."

"Not the time," Lena sighed, "Doctor, what do we do now?" she asked softly, terrorized beyond belief, " Is this what we do now? Chase after them?"

"This is what _I_ do," he corrected, "It's dangerous, so wait here."

"What, you mean you mess up and we've got to stay down here in the middle of the London _blitz_?" Avalon raised an eyebrow. "You realize what's wrong with that sentence right?"

"Look, it's as safe as it gets around me," he waved and stepped into the TARDIS.

"What does he expect us to do now?" Amy crossed her arms.

"KBO, of course," Winston answered.

"What?"

"Keep buggering on!"

~ 0 ~

The Doctor hurriedly worked the controls of the console and checked the monitor where thankfully the Dalek ship appeared, "Bingo!"

~ 0 ~

A young woman, named Breen, entered the map room with a communique, "Prime Minister."

"Yes?" Winston looked over.

She handed him the paper to read, "Signal from RDF, sir. Unidentified object. Hanging in the sky, Captain Childers says. We can't get a proper fix, though. It's too far up."

"What do you think, Miss Pond? Reynolds' twins?" he looked at the women, "The Doctor's in trouble and now we know where he is."

"Yeah. Cos he'll be on that ship, won't he? Right in the middle of everything," Lena uneasily pointed that out.

"Exactly!"

~ 0 ~

As the Daleks watched the Progenitor device continuing its programmed course, the TARDIS materialized behind the three. They swiveled their top sections to see the Doctor coming out of the box while rubbing his hands.

"How about that cuppa now, then?" he asked, slowly approaching.

"It is the Doctor! Exterminate!"

"Wait, wait, wait, I wouldn't if I were you!" he pulled out a round object, in reality a cookie with jam inside, and held it out in front of him, "TARDIS self-destruct. And you know what that means. My ship goes, you all go with it."

"You would not use such a device," one of the Daleks declared.

"Try me," he challenged and when a Dalek moved forwards he quickly reminded them, "Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah. No scans! No nothing! One move and I'll destroy us all, you got that? TARDIS bang-bang, Daleks boom!" the Dalek moved back to its place with the other two, "Good boy," he took a look at the Dalek's instrument panels around, "This ship's pretty beaten up - running on empty, I'd say, like you. When we last met, you were at the end of your rope. Finished."

"One ship survived."

"And you fell back through time, yes? Crippled?" the Doctor didn't care how sadistic his question sounded. He wished all Daleks would just die already. "Dying?"

"We picked up a trace. One of the Progenitor devices."

"Progenitor? What's that when it's at home?"

"It is our past. And our future."

"Ohhh, that's deep. That is deep for a Dalek," the Doctor admitted, "What does it mean, though?"

"It contains pure Dalek DNA, thousands were created, all were lost, save one."

"OK, but there's still one thing I don't get, though - if you've got the Progenitor, why build Bracewell?"

"It was... necessary."

"But why?" the Doctor picked up on the hesitancy to answer and nearly laughed, "I get it. Oh, I get it! I get it. Oh, ho, this is rich! The Progenitor wouldn't recognize you, would it? It saw you as impure, the DNA is unrecognizable as Dalek."

"A solution was devised."

"Yes, yes, yes. Me. My testimony. So you set a trap, you knew that the Progenitor would recognize me. The Daleks' greatest enemy! It would accept my word. My recognition of you," he saw one of the Daleks turning to the panel behind it, "No, no, no. What are you doing?" he held out the cookie in warning again.

"Withdraw now, Doctor, or the city dies in flames."

"Who are you kidding?" he nearly scoffed, "This ship is a wreck, you don't have the power to destroy London."

"Watch as the humans destroy themselves."

~ 0 ~

The Dalek ship lowered a dish which collected and sent a stream of energy towards London...

~ 0 ~

A warden on the rooftop watched how all the lights of the city flashed on, "What the...? No!"

~ 0 ~

An officer tried turning off the lights inside the war room to no avail, "The generators won't switch off! The lights are on all across London, Prime Minister!"

"It's them, it's the Daleks," Avalon frowned.

"The Germans can see every inch of the city. We're sitting ducks. Get those lights out before the Germans get here!" Winston ordered the officer away, "Thousands will die if we don't get those lights out now."

"German bombers sighted over the Channel, sir," Breen called from her place, "ETA 10 minutes, sir."

"Here they come. Get a message to Mr Attlee. War Cabinet meeting at 0300-if we're all still here."

"We can't just sit here! We've got to take the fight to the Daleks!" Amy exclaimed.

"How? None of our weapons are a match for theirs."

"There has to be something we can do to help," Lena looked at her twin who was already smirking with an idea, "Ava-"

"We do have something, baby sister," she nodded, "A sort of gift...from the Daleks themselves."

~ 0 ~

"Turn those lights off now. Turn London off or I swear I will use the TARDIS self-destruct!" the Doctor warned, flashing the...cookie, again.

"Stalemate, Doctor. Leave us, and return to Earth," a Dalek instead offered.

"Oh, that's it? That's your great victory? You leave?"

"Extinction is not an option. We shall return to our own time and begin again."

"No, no, no! I won't let you get away this time! I won't!"

After a couple noises from the machine behind the Daleks, one of the creatures spoke again, "We have succeeded - DNA reconstruction is complete."

All the Daleks glided back from the cubicle which was enveloped in red energy. The doors slid open in the midst of sparks and smoke.

"Observe, Doctor, a new Dalek paradigm!"

The Doctor watched in horror as new and larger Daleks emerged from the smoke, each bearing a different color.

"The Progenitor has fulfilled our new destiny. Behold, the restoration of the Daleks! The resurrection of the master race!"

~ 0 ~

Bracewell sat in his lab with a revolver in his only hand, about to place it to his head when Winston and the women entered the room.

"Bracewell! Put the gun down!" Winston ordered.

"My life is a lie, and I choose to end it," Bracewell nodded.

"In your own time, Paisley boy," Amy said, "Because right now we need your help."

"But those creatures...my Ironsides…they made me? I... I can remember things, so many things. The last war- The squalor and the mud and the awful, awful misery of it all. What am I? What am I?"

"What you are, sir, is either on our side, or theirs. Now, I don't give a damn if you're a machine, Bracewell... Are you a man?" Winston asked.

"Yeah, listen, solve your identity issues on a later time," Avalon snatched the gun from his hand, "Cos London is being lighted up like a Christmas tree by those Daleks. Thousands of people will tonight, including my _sister_ , and that'll happen over my own dead corpse. So you're gonna button it up and remember you're _against_ those Daleks. You can help us take them down.'

"I am?" the man nervously asked.

"You're alien technology. You're as clever as the Daleks are, so start thinking!"

"Don't be so mean, Avalon," Amy said, moving over to the woman, "What about rockets?" she looked at Bracewell, "You got rockets? Cos you said gravity whatsits, hypersonic flight, some kind of missile."

"This isn't a fireworks party, Miss Pond!" Winston shook his head, "We need proper tactical... A missile... or...?"

"Or what?" Amy and Avalon looked at him.

"We could send something up there, you say?"

"With a gravity bubble, yes," Bracewell showed Winston the plans, "Theoretically it's possible we could actually send something into space."

"Then it's time to think big," Lena smiled with excitement.

Avalon cast an glance to her twin and discreetly smiled again.

~ 0 ~

"All hail the new Daleks! All hail the new Daleks!" an older Dalek chanted.

"Yes, you are inferior!" the white Dalek declared.

"Yes."

"Then prepare."

"We are ready!" the 'inferior' three Daleks said.

"Cleanse the unclean! Total obliteration! Disintegrate!" the white Dalek said and the blue Dalek fired at two of the inferior Daleks while the red Dalek shot the last one.

"Blimey, what do you do to the ones who mess up?" the Doctor mumbled.

"You are the Doctor! You must be exterminated!" the white Dalek declared.

Once more, the Doctor flashed his self-destructing cookie to the new Daleks, "Don't mess with me, sweetheart!"

~ 0 ~

Avalon and Bracewell entered the map room, Bracewell's missing hand in a sling while Avalon pushed a chair with device on it. Bracewell also wore a homemade headset on.

"At last! Are they ready?" Winston looked at the two with an anxious expression.

"We really hope so," Avalon said as she placed the device from the chair on the desk, "But in the meantime, Bracewell had this to pick up Dalek transmissions," she slapped the side of it and a visual image appeared on the circular screen of the Doctor and the white Dalek.

"Smart you are," Lena praised her twin.

"Torchwood teaches just fine," Avalon whispered so Amy wouldn't hear that precise line.

For a couple years now, the entire Reynolds family had been in good relationships with Torchwood before it closed down. Being a not-so-regular human family, the Reynolds' parents opted for a possible helpline in case they should ever need it for their children. Against their father's will, Avalon had been educated on several non-human topics and devices by the team, learning a bit more of the Doctor in the process.

"We are the paradigm of a new Dalek race," the white Dalek was saying.

"Oh it's him, the Doctor," Amy pointed just before they heard Daleks.

"He's got company. New company. We've got to hurry up!" Lena urged, looking at Avalon, "He needs help."

Bracewell answered a ringing phone, "Yes? Right. Right, thanks!" he hung up and looked at Winston, "Ready when you are, Prime Minister."

"Splendid!"

The ship appeared on the screen, "Spaceship's exact co-ordinates located!" Bracewell informed.

"Go to it, Group Captain! Go to it!" Winston ordered a nearby man.

"Broadsword to Danny Boy! Broadsword to Danny Boy! Scramble! Scramble! Scramble!"

~ 0 ~

"Question is, what do we do now? Either you turn off your clever machine or I'll blow you and your new paradigm into eternity," the Doctor reminded again, unaware of the blue Dalek scanning him and his cookie.

"And yourself," the white Dalek pointed out.

"Occupational hazard."

"Scan reveals nothing! TARDIS self-destruct device non-existent!" the blue Dalek declared.

"Alright," the Doctor bit into his cookie, "It's a Jammy Dodger, but I was promised tea!"

When a siren went off, the blue Dalek moved to a scanner, "Alert! Unidentified projectile approaching! Correction. Multiple projectiles!"

"What have the humans done?" the white Dalek demanded from the Doctor.

"I don't know."

"Explain! Explain! Explain!"

Over a radio, a pilot's voice emerged, "Danny Boy to the Doctor! Danny Boy to the Doctor! Are you receiving me? Over."

"Oh, Winston! You beauty!" the Doctor straightened up with a bright smile.

"Danny Boy to the Doctor! Come in. Over."

"Loud and clear, Danny Boy! Big dish, side of the ship, blow it up! Over!"

"Exterminate the Doctor!" the white Dalek ordered but the Doctor quickly escaped and rushed back to the TARDIS.

~ 0 ~

"You heard him, Group Captain! Target that dish! Send in all we've got!" Winston reiterated the ordered from his place in the meanwhile the women looked at the action from the screen of the receiver.

"4-4 to Danny Boy, target the dish and stop that signal," the ground captain ordered.

"Over. Understood, sir. Over," the pilot replied, "'You can count on us! Over. '"

~ 0 ~

"OK, chaps, let's put London back under cover of darkness. Tally ho!" the pilot declared to the rest of the pilots and the squadron began firing on the Dalek ship and its dish, "Cover my back, going in close!" but the ship started firing down, able to bring down one of the planes, "Pull out, pull out."

~ 0 ~

Everyone in the map room gathered around the screen as they listened to the

pilot, "We've lost Jubilee, sir! Over."

"Beam still active, sir," the ground captain informed.

"Then send them in again!" Winston ordered.

~ 0 ~

The planes regrouped and attacked again.

"'Flintlock's down sir, and the dish seems to be protected. Over.. Danny Boy to the Doctor... only me left now. Anything you can do, sir? Over."

~ 0 ~

The Doctor was now inside the TARDIS with a small microphone, "The Doctor to Danny Boy... The Doctor to Danny Boy. I can disrupt the Dalek shields, but not for long. Over."

"Good show, Doctor, go to it. 'Going in, wish me luck. Over. '

As the pilot made another approach, the Doctor frantically worked over the controls.

Direct hit, sir!" the ground captain informed and the entire room erupted in cheers.

~ 0 ~

On the rooftop, the warden watched as the lights went off in the entire city and sighed in relief, "Thank the Lord!" he raised his fist into the sky, "Do your worst, Adolf!"

~ 0 ~

"Danny Boy to the Doctor...going in for another attack."

"The Doctor to Danny Boy. The Doctor to Danny Boy. Destroy this ship! Over," the Doctor nearly fully smirked.

"What about you, Doctor?"

"I'll be OK."

Suddenly, the white Dalek appeared on the monitor, "Doctor! Call off your attack!"

"Ah-ha, what? And let you scuttle off back to the future?" the Doctor scoffed, "No fear. This is the end for you. The final end!"

"Call off the attack, or we will destroy the Earth."

"I'm not stupid, mate! You've just played your last card!"

"Bracewell is a bomb."

The Doctor's smiled as he faded, "You're bluffing. Deception's second nature to you. There isn't a sincere bone in your body. There isn't a bone in your body!"

"His power is derived from an Oblivion Continuum! Call off your attack, or we will detonate the android."

"No! This is my best chance ever! The last of the Daleks! I can rid the Universe of you, once and for all!"

"Then do it. But we will shatter the planet below! The Earth will die screaming!"

"And if I let you go, you'll be stronger than ever. A new race of Daleks..." the Doctor looked to the side as he thought of the many possible ways he

could...possibly...no...

"Then choose, Doctor! Destroy the Daleks or save the Earth. Begin countdown of Oblivion Continuum! Choose, Doctor! Choose! Choose!"

The Doctor knew what he had to do of course...

With a small sigh, he picked up the microphone, "The Doctor to Danny Boy. The Doctor to Danny Boy. Withdraw."

"Say again, sir. Over."

"Withdraw! Return to Earth. Over and out."

"But sir...!"

"There's no time, you have to return to Earth now! Over!"

The Doctor set the coordinates for Earth while the pilot returned back to the planet.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor ran straight into the map room where he punched Bracewell to the ground, shaking his hand in pain after.

"Doctor!" Lena exclaimed with wide eyes, "That's not nice!"

Avalon, on the other hand, snorted. "And I thought _I_ was mean," she said with a hint of a laugh.

"Ow! Sorry, Professor. You're a bomb! An inconceivably massive Dalek bomb," the Doctor mimicked it exploding with his arms.

"He's a what?" Avalon frowned.

"There's an Oblivion Continuum inside you - a captured wormhole that provides perpetual power. Detonate that, and the Earth will bleed through into another dimension!" he knelt down beside Bracewell and opened up his shirt and used his sonic to reveal mechanics underneath his skin, "Now keep down!"

There was a circular pad divided into glowing blue sections on Bracewell's chest, one of the sections turning yellow.

"Well?" Amy asked.

"I dunno, I dunno, I dunno!" the Doctor shook his screwdriver, "Never seen one up close before!"

"So, what, they've wired him up to detonate?" Lena stepped closer when she felt Avalon's hand on her arm forcing her to stay back.

Not wired him up! He is a bomb. Walking, talking," he made another fale exploding sound effect, "The moment that flashes red."

"There's... a blue wire or something you have to cut, isn't there? There's always a blue wire," Amy said as he stood up, "Or a red one."

"You're not helping!"

"But he was talking about his memories," Avalon began, much calmer than the other ginger, "How can he be an android or whatever if he had actual human thoughts?"

"Someone else's stolen thoughts, implanted in a positronic brain. Tell me about it. Bracewell! Tell me about your life!" he knelt beside Bracewell again.

"Doctor, I really don't think this is the time!" Bracewell shook his head.

"Tell me and prove you're human. Tell me everything."

"My family ran the Post Office. It's a little place just near the abbey. Just by the ash trees. There used to be eight trees but...but there was a storm."

"And your parents? Come on! Tell me!"

"Good people. Kind people. They... They died. Scarlet fever."

"What was that like? How did it feel?"

"Please..." Bracewell hesitated to answer.

"How did it make you feel, Edwin? Tell me! Tell me now!"

"It hurt. It hurts, Doctor, so badly. Like a wound," Bracewell said as the second sections on his chest turned red and the third yellow, "It was worse than a wound. Like I'd been emptied out. There was nothing."

"Good. Remember it now, Edwin! The ash trees by the Post Office and your mum and dad and losing them and men in the trenches you saw die... Remember it! Feel it, because you're human," the Doctor insisted as the third section turned red, "You're not like them. You are not like the Daleks!"

"It hurts! Doctor, it hurts so much!"

"Good! Good! Good! Brilliant! Embrace it," the fourth section turned red, "That means you're alive! They cannot explode that bomb, you're a human being! You are flesh and blood! They cannot explode that bomb! Believe it! You are Professor Edwin Bracewell! And you, my friend, are a human being!" but the fifth section turned red much to the Doctor's dismay, "It's not working, I can't stop it!"

Amy suddenly knelt down beside Bracewell, "Hey... Paisley. Ever fancied someone you know you shouldn't?"

"W... What?" Bracewell slowly looked at her.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Amy asked and the last section remained yellow, "But kind of a good hurt."

"I really shouldn't talk about her."

"Oh. There's a her," Amy looked at the others as the last section reverted to blue.

"What was her name?" the Doctor asked.

"Dorabella."

"Dorabella? It's a lovely name, it's a beautiful name," the Doctor said, assured.

"What was she like, Edwin?" Amy asked.

"Oh... Such a smile. And her eyes... Her eyes were so blue...Almost violet. Like the last touch of sunset on the edge of the world... Dorabella..."

All the sections reverted to blue and disarmed the bomb, much to everyone's happiness...except for Avalon. She'd noticed the little looks Amy had given the Doctor while speaking about these fancy and whatnot...

"Welcome to the human race," the Doctor declared and smiled at Amy and the others, "You're brilliant," he said to Bracewell, "You're brilliant..." he looked at Amy, "And you..." he kissed her forehead and stood up, "Now, gotta stop them! Stop the Daleks!" he rushed for the doorway of the room.

"Wait! Doctor! Wait... Wait," Bracewell sat up and the Doctor stopped, "It's too late. Gone. They've gone."

"No, no, no! They can't! They can't have got away from me again!" the Doctor slowly returned with a fallen expression.

"No, I can feel it, my mind is clear. The Daleks have gone."

The Doctor leaned against a pole, all his energy suddenly drained with sadness. Lena slowly stepped towards him with a soft smile, "You stopped the bomb, isn't that good?"

"I had a choice. And they knew I'd choose the Earth. The Daleks have won. They beat me. They've won."

"But you saved Earth, and us...again," she reminded, "Once again we stand here because of you. That's not too shabby is it?"

He looked at her and the others in the room and saw their support radiating, "No..." he slowly smiled, "I saved my little sister, that's definitely not too shabby."

"Saving the world no matter what, just like the fairy tale man would," Lena smiled knowingly. The Doctor knew what she meant and chuckled.

~ 0 ~

"So, what now, then?" Amy asked Winston as they looked over the maps.

"I still have a war to run, Miss Pond."

A woman handed Winston another communique, "Prime Minister."

"Oh, thank you," he read the document and sighed, "They hit the Palace and St Paul's again. Fire crews only just saved it."

Amy saw Breen enter the room in sobs, "Is she okay?"

"What?"

"She looks very upset," Amy nodded to the woman.

"Oh, Miss Breen? Her young man didn't make it, I'm afraid. Just got word. Shot down over the Channel."

"Where's the Doctor?" Amy looked around the place, "And the twins?"

The Doctor and Lena entered the room, "Tying up loose ends, though I only have one of the twins," he gestured to the shorter brunette beside him, "I've taken out all the alien tech Bracewell put in."

"And I actually helped," Lena beamed, "Wasn't too scared this time."

"Won't you reconsider, Doctor? Those Spitfires would win me the war in 24 hours!" Winston walked over as the Doctor took a cup of tea.

"Exactly," he said and sipped the cup.

"But why not? Why can't we put an end to all this misery?"

"Oh, it doesn't work like that, Winston. It's gonna be tough. There are terrible days to come. The darkest days. But you can do it. You know you can."

"Stay with us, and help us win through! The world needs you."

"The world doesn't need me," the Doctor shook his head.

"No?"

"The world's got Winston Spencer Churchill," the Doctor made his victory sign again.

"It's been a pleasure, as always."

"Too right."

The two men hugged and Winston pulled away first, "Goodbye, Doctor."

"Oh, shall we say adieu?"

"Indeed. Goodbye, Miss Pond," Winston had moved on to the ginger.

"It's.. it's been amazing. Meeting you," she admitted.

"I'm sure it has!"

Amy kissed his cheek and the man moved to Lena, "I don't really know where you sister is, Miss Reynolds," he admitted.

Lena sighed, not at all surprised, "Avalon's always sneaking off. You'll probably find her either under a table or in the mess of wires...one of those two. But in all honesty it was truly nice meeting you too," she hugged the man quick, "I loved learning about you in history."

Winston chuckled and went on his way, heading for the door when Amy called...

"Oi, Churchill! TARDIS key. The one you just took from the Doctor."

Lena giggled as the Doctor nearly choked on his tea and patted his pocket which indeed was short of the key.

"Oh, she's good, Doctor. As sharp as a pin!" Winston laughed and handed her the key, "Almost as sharp as me! KBO!"

Several seconds later, the Doctor held his hand for the key which Amy innocently had kept in her hand. With a disappointed frown, the ginger handed back the key.

~ 0 ~

"This is the last room so Avalon has to be in here," Lena declared as she walked into Bracewell's lab.

"I am!" the trio heard the other ginger's call, followed by, "OW!"

"Miss Reynolds, are you alright?" Bracewell bent down under a table.

"Ow," Avalon appeared on the other side of the table, one hand resting on the table and the other rubbing the top of her head, "Yes...but that hurt."

"What are you doing there?" Amy raised an eyebrow.

"I lost my earring," the ginger stood up and dusted herself off, "Good news is I found it," she pushed one of her ginger locks to reveal her ears with their earrings, "I asked Bracewell to help me which he kindly did."

"And now that it's over, I know what comes next," he sighed.

"And what exactly do you think comes next?" Avalon moved around the table with a sly smile.

"It's time to de-activate me."

"Is it?" Avalon looked at the Doctor.

"Oh...yeah..." he looked at the others with a smile.

"You have no choice. I'm Dalek technology. Can't allow me to go pottering around down here where I have no business," Bracewell dejectedly said.

"No, you're dead right, Professor. 100% right. And by the time I get back here in... what, ten minutes?" the Doctor looked at the women.

"More like 15," Amy shrugged.

"Fifteen minutes, yeah, that's exactly what I'm going to do. You are going to be so de-activated. It's going be like you've never even been... activated."

"Mhm," Lena crossed her arms and faked her best serious look.

"15 minutes?" Bracewell repeated.

"He really means 20," Avalon said, "He's got a lot of more impressions to make on me."

The Doctor sent her a mock-glare but begrudgingly accepted, "Right...and considering Avalon's lovely, cheery attitude it'll probably take me an hour..."

"Very well, Doctor. I shall wait here and prepare myself," Bracewell nodded.

"That Dalek tech's a little bit slow on the uptake," Amy whispered to the group.

"My sister's got a very bad temper so it'll really take us about an hour and a half," Lena spoke up, "Or maybe two."

"Oh yes," the Doctor agreed, "So no running off, that's what I'm saying. Don't go trying to find that little Post Office with the ash trees or that girl... What was her name?"

"Dorabella."

"Dorabella. On no account go looking for her. Mind you, you can get a lot done in two hours."

Bracewell began to smile and laugh when he finally caught on to the group's charade, "Thank you, thank you, Doctor!"

"Come along, Pond! Reynolds!" the Doctor motioned for the women to follow him out, leaving a very excited Bracewell to pack a suitcase.

~ 0 ~

"So, you have enemies then?" Amy crossed her arms.

"Everyone's got enemies," the Doctor reminded.

"Yeah, but mine's the woman outside Budgens with the mental Jack Russell, Avalon's is pretty much all the criiminal justice workers and Lena...well..." Amy studied the brunette, "...nope, nothing. But you," she pointed to the Doctor, "You've got, like, you know, arch-enemies."

"Suppose so," he sighed.

"So I guess it's not really running around through time, huh?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, "It's actually completely dangerous," she looked at her sister with genuine concern.

"Everything is dangerous," Lena waved off the ginger, "Doctor, you're still worried over the Daleks, aren't you?"

"I'm always worried about the Daleks," he pointed out, thinking of that line as his most underrated line of his life. They'd been the cause of the demise of his own people and planet, Rose's departure, Donna's semi-death and, well...who knows what else they'd do when they'd gained their full potential again.

"It'll take time, though, won't it? There's still not many of them. They'll need a while to build themselves up," Amy reminded.

"It's not that. There's something else. Something we've forgotten. Or rather you three have," he looked from one to another.

"Us? What do you mean?" Lena asked.

"You didn't know them. You'd never seen them before. And you should have done. You should."

With that, he entered the TARDIS with the three confused women to follow him in. Upon de-materializing, there was a hidden crack in the wall that appeared to be like Amy's in her bedroom with a light spilling from it.

~ 0 ~

Avalon and Amy stood in the console room, alone, and were currently arguing over the secret Amy had kept from the Doctor and Lena.

"Why haven't you told them you're getting married tomorrow?" Avalon demanded.

"I was getting to it!" Amy exclaimed, avoiding the woman's piercing green eyes.

"You've been here technically two days and not one word has come out of your mouth that had to do with Rory or your not? Are you planning on coming back to Earth?"

"Why are you questioning me?" Amy frowned, "You're not my mother!"

"Because I care for Rory and I hate seeing how you treat him!"

"You _care_?" Amy raised an eyebrow, "Just how much do you care for him exactly?"

"Amy, listen to yourself," Avalon sighed, "I love Rory as a friend, we're close, he's like a brother to me. And as a sister, I don't want him marrying someone who's not sure of her own feelings."

"What are you saying?" Amy stepped forwards.

"I saw the looks you gave the Doctor today, and it's not one of platonic way. Amy if you're not entirely sure of yourself then call off the wedding before you make a mistake and hurt Rory."

"I know where my feelings lie, Avalon. You need to stop butting into my life!"

"Amy, I love you too, and I'm doing this for your own good too. Think about my words, please? Cos tomorrow, I'm gonna walk down that aisle with you as your maid of honor and when I see you walking behind I want to know that I'm part of a marriage of actual _love_. A _two_ way love."

"You _are_ ," Amy assured.

"Are you sure, Amy? Are you entirely sure?"

Amy fidgeted under Avalon's gaze, "Y-yes. Now leave me alone and attend to your own life, which you have none!" she hurriedly walked away.

Avalon sighed and ran a hand through her hair, which in retrospect wasn't as swiftly as she wanted. She looked over to the doors for a minute, her eyes scanning the room as she quietly made her way over. She slowly opened the doors with caution and leaned forwards, half-smiling when she saw all those stars she'd wanted to see as a child.

She always asked her parents why they couldn't leave Earth to be in a more...advanced planet? She loved the humans and their lives but she always felt like...like things moved too _slow_. It made her feel out of place. She wanted to see how other species worked, how their planets worked...she wanted to see it in person, not from history books or a computer screen. As advanced as their computers actually were, it didn't compare to being out there and actually living it.

"It's nice, isn't it?"

The ginger lightly gasped and jumped in place at the new voice behind her. She quickly closed the doors and turned to see the Doctor at the console, holding her purse in his hands.

"It's okay to look," he motioned for her to re-open the doors but the ginger remained in place, "I think the view is quite nice too." Avalon stayed quiet and only watched him. He sighed. "Look, I brought you back your purse," he walked over and handed her the purse, "The TARDIS moved it into a room, she's actually already made one for you," he got into thought about it.

He'd really had wandered into that new room on accident. He was still trying to find that pool room and instead stumbled upon a brand new room he knew for a fact had not been there two days ago. It was simple really, just a basic room with the necessities. He knew it was a room for Avalon and was still waiting to be properly imagined by the ginger. The box really did seemed to love her just as much as Lena and Amy.

"She can move things around?" Avalon finally spoke as she took her bag, clutching it to her chest again.

"Yes, move rooms too."

"That's why the swimming pool was in the library, then?"

He smiled at her rememberance, "Yes."

"Have you found it?"

"Uh, no. Still missing..."

Her eyes flickered to the side for a second. "Can't you just make a new one?"

"I suppose I could."

"Or maybe there's already another one but you haven't found it yet? Is that possible?"

The Doctor loved her thoughts. "Yes, it _is_. The TARDIS is just so big I don't even know all the rooms she has."

"Oh," Avalon seemed fascinated again but she quickly pushed it away. "Look, I'm not...good...with apologies...but...in this instance, I _am_ sorry."

"Sorry? For what, exactly?" he raised an eyebrow.

"For slapping you...and thinking you killed my sister..."

"Yes, glad we got that cleared up," the Doctor rocked on his shoes. "Because as the 'fairy tale man' that's not the right thing to do."

Avalon briefly smiled. "You know you don't have to keep obeying to that name, right? It was a stupid name I gave you when I was some stupid kid..." she rolled her eyes, clearly embarrassed.

"It's not stupid," the Doctor promised her, though his amused expression didn't quite convince her.

"Well, maybe not as stupid as 'Raggedy Man'..." Avalon got to thinking, and the Doctor easily saw some curiosity settling on her face. "You know-"

"Oh, no..." the Doctor prepared himself for another round of questions about himself, which he thought were fairly interesting considering they were questions no one really bothered to ask.

"Why _were_ you in tattered clothes that seemed a bit...out of place?" she finished her question slowly, eyes looking him over for a second.

"It's a long story, Avalon," the Doctor released a big sigh. "But long story short, I died, basically..." Avalon's eyes widened, "There was a fight, don't know if you remember it...but in the end I saved a very good friend of mine."

"You died for them?" Avalon whispered.

"Yes."

"And so...and so you did that thing...?" Avalon made a gesture to her face.

"Regeneration," the Doctor nodded. "I changed completely in order to heal myself. The clothes you saw were my previous incarnation's clothes."

"Was he...was he older?"

"Yes..."

"So that's why they looked out of place," Avalon said to herself.

"They didn't feel right anymore," the Doctor agreed with a small chuckle.

Avalon nodded, thinking she could understand that. If his previous self was older, then perhaps he had older thoughts and styles. She wondered what he looked like, but she didn't have the courage to ask.

"Listen, Avalon," the Doctor got serious, "About Lena's disappearance...you can't be mad at her, okay? She may have not done things in the right way but she did have good intentions."

"And what were they?" Avalon asked, unable to stop the flicker of pain from crossing her heart.

"She wanted you to have the opportunity to build a life."

"I have a life!"

"Around _her_. I mean, you don't have to tell me, but...have you ever thought about what you want to do? What are your aspirations?"

A deep scowl spread across Avalon's face. "You're sounding like everyone else."

"I'm not trying to offend you-"

"Then why _are_ you?" she demanded.

The Doctor sighed and just stopped. Clearly, she wasn't going to get it and he thought that perhaps she'd benefit from a good rest. He _had_ picked her up at night meaning she'd already spent her day and a night without sleep. She'd found out her sister was not dead after two years and she did meet _space_ and _history_. That could take a lot out of people.

"Would you like to rest?" he asked, gesturing to the corridors. Avalon's eyes flickered from him to the corridor and displayed her confusion. "What's the matter?"

"I thought...I thought you were dropping me and Lena back home. And Amy."

"Well, we could keep going a bit more, no one on Earth would know."

She lightly scoffed, "Oh be honest with yourself, Doctor. You don't want me here."

"Why not? I _am_ asking you know," he pointed out, "And I did just say the TARDIS had a room for you already."

"I'm not gonna pretend to be what I'm not. I have a bad temper and I'm fairly rude when I want to be. I don't follow orders and I steal. You don't like thieves and I think we all know that I'm just that."

"You stole for your sister. While I don't condone it, I understand you did it for good intentions...that's why I ordered your release."

Her eyes slightly widened, "I knew the bloody queen had nothing to do with that! It was _you_! You were there, in the hallway...I knew I saw someone there."

"Lena asked me to help you, but apart from that I _wanted_ to help you. And you're right, I won't pretend to like what I don't. You're not the ideal companion but...you love your sister and would do anything for her. You really are adventurous and brave, clearly a lover of the stars," he gestured to the closed doors behind her and smiled, "And you take charge when needed. I'd like _that_ Avalon to come with us."

"So...what are you saying...?" she quietly asked, biting her lip anxiously.

"If you'd like to come..." he motioned for her to finish it.

He loved the joyous shock on her face. But just as quickly as it came, she pushed it off.

"I mean...yes...yes, okay," she said as casual as possible.

"Well...welcome to the TARDIS," the Doctor proposed himself to make her change her ways so that she could openly show her true feelings without care. "Where you'll be impressed the entire time."

She chuckled. "Yeah, well, we'll see about that. I don't get impressed easily, so..." she walked past him, intending on finding that room of hers that apparently was already in existence. She stopped however, when she remembered something. She looked down at her purse and plucked out a purple guitar pin from it. "Do you have a trash?" she turned around. "It's a pin my ex-boyfriend gave me, do you mind?" she nodded to the doors.

"Uh actually there is a..." but the Doctor didn't answer as the ginger had already opened the doors and chucked the pin out, "...never mind."

"Good riddance," she spat and closed the doors.

"I probably should've asked earlier about this, but um...are you okay with that...breakup?"

She shrugged, trying to act like it didn't bother her. "He dumped me…so, whatever."

"No, not whatever," the Doctor said softly, shaking his head at her. "Amy said it was a serious relationship..."

Avalon lightly chuckled. "It's fine, I promise. But…" she shrugged and awkwardly chuckled again, "…I mean…I can't stop feeling like…" she motioned to her eyes and stomped her foot much like a child would out of frustration, "I'm sorry…"

"There is no shame in crying, Avalon. Everyone does. It's not a sign of weakness – it just makes you human."

Avalon shook her head. "It's fine, totally fine," she promised. "I'm just...I'm gonna go find my room. Sure she'll show it to me, right?" she pointed up. The Doctor nodded, but felt terrible that he wasn't doing anything to make her actually feel better. "Goodnight," Avalon struggled to keep her tears in as she smiled for him. "And...thank you."

"You're...welcome..." the Doctor said the words just for courtesy but not out of meaning. Because he truly felt like this hadn't helped her at all.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Aaaaaand now we officially have Avalon, our main OC! How'd you like her so far? Let me know!


	4. The Time of Angels

The Doctor strode through a medieval church-like museum, randomly pointing at displays while giving his opinions on it. Behind him strolled Amy, Avalon and Lena, looking a bit bored of the location.

"Wrong! Wrong! Bit right, mostly wrong," the Doctor pointed to several displays, "I love museums."

"Yeah me too, except I don't go pointing out the errors of history," Avalon remarked, "Why are we here? You promised me an alien planet. Where is it?"

"Patience," he pointed at her and Amy scoffed.

" _You_ have no patience," she informed.

"Where are we, Doctor?" Lena looked around, not at all upset with the location. It was a nice, calm place with lots of interesting artifacts. Leave it to Avalon and even Amy to be disappointed with it.

"It's the Delerium Archive, final resting place of the headless monks, the biggest museum ever!" the Doctor gave a whirl with his arms extended out.

"You've got a time machine, what do you need museums for?" Avalon raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that redundant? And _boring_?"

But the man continued pointing here and there, "Wrong! Very wrong! Oooh, one of mine. Also one of mine," he peered into a display case.

"Oooh..." Avalon smirked, "I get it now. This is how you keep score. I didn't think you would be conceited about it...well...smug, but..." she trailed off when she saw the Doctor had stopped at an intriguing display holding an antique box with strange symbols on it.

"Oh great, an old box," Amy sighed this time.

"Maybe it's important," Lena offered, moving over to stand beside the Doctor. She stared at the box, tilting her head from one side to the next as she tried to read the funny symbols on the box. "Is it?"

The Doctor slowly nodded but was no longer as excited as earlier. "It's from one of the old starliners. A Home Box."

"What's a Home Box?" Amy asked.

"Like a black box on a plane, except it homes. Anything happens to the ship, the Home Box flies home, with all the flight data."

"So what's so important about this one?" Avalon questioned, making rounds on the display box.

"The writing, the graffiti - Old High Gallifreyan. The lost language of the Time Lords."

"And let me guess, _you're_ the only one that's supposed to know it..."

"You'd think since I am the last..." he nodded, "There were days, there were many days, these words could burn stars and raise up empires, and topple Gods."

"What does it say?" Lena asked.

The Doctor looked up, "Hello, sweetie."

Next thing the women knew, the Doctor ripped the case off and snatched the box from its place.

"What are you doing!?" Avalon stiffened as she heard the alarms blaring, "I thought you didn't steal!"

"You rubbed off, now run!" he ordered and went first. The women ran after him with two guards coming out of the door to chase them. Just barely, the group ran inside the TARDIS where the Doctor quickly sent them off and hooked up the home box to the console.

"Why did you just steal it?" Lena asked him, completely out of breath.

"Cos someone on a space ship 12,000 years ago is trying to attract my attention. And here you go by the way," he took out an asthma inhaler from his jacket's pocket and handed it to the brunette.

"You carry one now?" Avalon asked, a small smile on her face.

"Course I do, my baby sister has asthma," he shrugged casually and patted Lena's head who simply rolled her eyes, "Now let's see if we can get the security playback working."

A grainy black and white footage of a woman in a dress and fairly big hair appeared on the monitor. The image switched to the woman's back facing the screen and three men standing in ahead of her.

" _The party's over, Doctor Song…_ " one of the men was saying, " _…yet still you're on board_."

The woman turned to face the men, " _Sorry, Alistair. I needed to see what was in your vault. Do you all know what's down there? Any of you? Because I'll tell you something. This ship won't reach its destination_."

" _Wait till she_ runs," the man told the other men behind him _"Don't make it look like an execution_."

The woman looked at her watch and started saying slowly numbers, " _Triple-seven, five…slash, three, four, nine by ten. Zero, twelve, slash, acorn. Oh, and I could do with an air corridor_."

The Doctor quickly began typing on the keyboard of the console.

"What was that, what did she say?" Amy asked, confused.

"Co-ordinates!" he exclaimed.

" _Like I said on the dance floor, you might want to find something to hang on to!_ " the woman said over the monitor.

"Ha-" Avalon laughed loudly, "-that's a good line! I'm taking that one!"

"Seriously? _That's_ what you paid attention to!?" the Doctor shot her an incredulous glance before dashing for the doors. He yanked them open and reached out. His companions saw him being toppled over by the same woman from the video.

"Doctor?" Lena called.

"River?" the Doctor looked up at the woman on top of him. Her bushy hair was partially covering his eyes.

"Ew, get off. And follow that ship!" River Song jumped to her feet and watched the ship fly away from them.

In a one two, River and the Doctor ran back to the console and worked the controls to follow the ship. Avalon, Amy and Lena stood back and watched the two in confusion.

"They've gone into warp drive, we're losing them! Stay close!" River said.

"I'm trying!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"Use the stabilizers."

"There aren't any stabilizers!"

"The blue switches!"

"The blue ones don't do anything, they're just...blue," the Doctor gestured to the blue controls.

"Yes, they're blue. They're the blue stabilizers!" River used the stabilizers and suddenly the TARDIS went quiet, "See?"

"Yeah, well, it's just boring now, isn't it? They're boring-ers. They're blue boring-ers!" the Doctor frowned.

"That's not a real word," Avalon informed and noticed River giving her a small smile, "And how do you know how to fly this thing? Sorry, _she_ ," she quickly looked up at the rotor in apology.

"You call that flying the TARDIS?" the Doctor scoffed and sat down to sulk, "Ha!"

"OK. I've mapped the probability vectors, done a fold-back on the temporal isometry, charted the ship to its destination, and parked us right along side," River informed, finishing up with the controls.

"Parked us? We haven't landed," the Doctor shot her a sharp look.

"Of course we've landed. I just landed her."

"But it didn't make the noise."

"What noise?"

"Oh! Oh! I know!" Lena raised her hands, using her inhaler once more before she imitated the TARDIS wheezing sound, making River laugh.

"Oh I'm sorry sweetie but that's cos that fool over there-" she pointed to the Doctor who mock-glared at her, "-leaves the brakes on."

"What, so it's actually not supposed to make that noise?" Lena frowned.

River shook her head, "Nope."

"Serious let down..." Avalon sarcastically whispered as she turned to the Doctor with a look. "What else has been a lie?" she dramatically asked.

"Yeah, well, it's a brilliant noise!" the Doctor jumped to his feet, purposely ignoring Avalon. "I love that noise. Come along, baby sister," he swung his arm around Lena's shoulders, "Let's have a look."

"No, wait! Environment checks," River called but the two kept going.

"Oh, yes, sorry! Quite right. Environment checks," the Doctor stuck his head out the door, "Nice out."

"We're somewhere in the Garn Belt," River started reading off the screen, "There's an atmosphere. Early indications suggest..."

"We're on Alfava Metraxis, the seventh planet of the Dundra System," Avalon declared proudly, "Oxygen-rich atmosphere, toxins in the soft band, 11-hour day."

River put her hands on her hips and gave her a sharp look, "Oh and you think you're so hot when you do that, don't you?"

"I like to think I look hot _all_ the time," Avalon triumphantly smiled. "But also, the words on the screen are big enough to see from here," River playfully rolled her eyes at the cheeky ginger.

"How come you can fly the TARDIS?" Lena asked River as she and the Doctor returned to the console.

"Oh, I had lessons from the very best," River declared, rolling her eyes when the Doctor smugly smiled.

"Well, yeah," he fixed his jacket.

"Thank you Avalon," River then said with a hint of a smirk.

"What? I don't know how to drive this," Avalon nearly laughed while the Doctor looked from one woman to the other with a frown.

"You don't?"

She shook her head, "No. I just came on board a month ago."

"Ooh..." River then understood the timelines, at least with the twins, "...right then," she picked up her red shoes, "Why did they land here?" she headed for the doors.

"They didn't land," the Doctor clarified.

"Sorry?"

"You should've checked the Home Box - it crashed," he followed her then shut the doors behind her and returned to the console.

"Doctor, who is she?" Lena asked.

"Yeah, and how did she do that museum thing?" Amy added.

"It's a long story and I don't know most of it," he answered as he worked the controls, "Off we go!"

"Hold on, what are you doing?" Avalon neared him, more curious of the controls after what the woman said of driving the box.

"Leaving. She's got where she wants to go, let's go where we want to go."

"Are you basically running away?"

"Yep."

"And why?"

"Cos she's the future."

"Can you run away from that?" Amy asked.

"I can run away from anything I like. Time is not the boss of me," he declared.

"Yeah _but_..." Avalon smirked as she looked towards the doors, "I was promised an alien planet and I do believe _that-_ ," she pointed to the doors, "-is indeed an alien planet."

The Doctor caught onto what the ginger was heading for and shook his head, "Oh no, no. _No_ ," he pointed at her.

She put her hands on her hips and sharply looked at him, "You said ' _Avalon, I'll take you to any alien planet you want_ '. Now, you need to keep that word. I choose this one," she crossed her arms.

"Avalon, don't do that," Lena moved up beside the Doctor, "We don't even know this woman and if the Doctor wants to leave it's probably for a good reason."

"Amy?" Avalon looked at the other ginger, knowing she was just as adventurous at times as she was, "What do you say?"

"Well..." Amy played with her fingers.

"No, Amy, no," the Doctor threw his head back in frustration, "Why can't you be obedient like Lena is?"

"Because we're gingers," Avalon declared, "We're feisty. I want this planet."

He sighed, "Fine, _five_ minutes. You get five minutes and then we're off," he warned.

"We'll see about that," Avalon ruffled his hair and rushed for the doors, Amy right behind her.

Lena giggled, "We should go and take care of them."

~ 0 ~

The ship they had been following had crashed on the top of a large and old stone structure. It was burning in certain areas with bits of debris on the ground and around the TARDIS.

River Song stood several inches from the TARDIS. She was gazing between her handheld device and the scenery. "What caused it to crash? Not me," Avalon laughed.

"Nah, the airlock would've sealed seconds after you blew it," the Doctor explained, "According to the Home Box, the warp engines had a phase-shift. No survivors."

"A phase-shift would have to be sabotage. I did warn them," River shrugged.

"About what?"

"Well, at least the building was empty. Aplan temple. Unoccupied for centuries," she started keying something into her handheld device.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" Amy asked the Doctor, the twins nodding in agreement.

"Amy Pond, Avalon and Lena Reynolds, Professor River Song," the Doctor gestured.

River turned to them with a small gasp, "Ahhh, I'm going to be a _professor_ some day, am I?" the Doctor winced at his little slip, "How exciting!" she laughed, "How exciting! Spoilers!" she turned back to what ever it had she'd been doing.

"Oh no, no, no there's something more here," Avalon looked at the Doctor with a smirk, "She left you a note in a museum...who is she?" but the Doctor walked off instead of answering.

"Two things always guaranteed to show up in a museum: The Home Box of category four starliner and, sooner or later, him," River informed, "It's how he keeps score."

"I know!" Avalon laughed, moving over to the woman.

"It's hilarious, isn't it?"

Avalon nodded, "It's so stupid!"

The Doctor came up behind the two with a sarcastic laugh, "I'm nobody's taxi service! I'm not gonna be there to catch you every time you feel like jumping out of a space ship," he informed River.

"And you are so wrong...if you want to keep on the good side of the..." she shut her mouth and simply smiled, "There's one survivor. There's a thing in the belly of that ship that can't ever die. Now he's listening!" she started speaking into the device, "You lot in orbit yet? Yeah, I saw it land. I'm at the crash site. Try and home in on my signal," she held up the device and looked at the Doctor, "Doctor, can you sonic me? I need to boost the signal so we can use it as a beacon."

The Doctor begrudgingly took out the sonic screwdriver and used it on the woman's device.

"Ooh, Doctor! You soniced her!" Amy teased him.

"We have a minute. Shall we?" River opened her diary and skimmed the pages, "Apparently far earlier days," she mumbled to herself, "Have we done the Bone Meadows?"

"What's the book?" Avalon asked her.

"Stay away from it," the Doctor warned.

"Is that a journal?" Avalon ignored him, "You like to write?"

"Mm, not so much. It's more a necessity," River explained.

"It's her past," the Doctor began, gesturing to the diary, "And my-"

"Not just yours," River reminded, seeing this version was much younger than the last. Oh she truly hated the man's thoughts about her in these early days.

"Yes, but you never say who else's," the Doctor rolled her eyes.

"Clearly I can't tell, now can I?" she raised an eyebrow, "We meet in the wrong order and I won't corrupt the timelines."

Four columns of swirling dust appeared behind them and emerged to be four soldiers in desert camouflage uniforms, the leader immediately walking to River, "You promised me an army, Doctor Song."

"No. I promised you the equivalent of an army. This is the Doctor."

The man, Octavian, shook the Doctor's hand, "Father Octavian, sir. Bishop, second class. 20 clerics at my command. The troops are already in the drop ship and landing shortly. Doctor Song was helping us with a covert investigation. Has Doctor Song explained what we're dealing with?"

"Doctor, what do you know of the Weeping Angels?" River asked and the Doctor immediately tensed.

~ 0 ~

Later in the night, a transport ship had arrived and more soldiers had set up a camp. Octavian strode across the ground follow by the group, "The Angel, as far as we know, is still trapped in the ship. Our mission is to get inside and neutralise it. We can't get through up top, we'd be too close to the drives. According to this," he showed another handheld device, "Behind the cliff face, there's a network of catacombs leading right up to the temple. We can blow through the base of the cliffs, get into the entrance chamber, then make our way up."

"Oh, good," the Doctor mumbled.

"Good, sir?"

"Catacombs, probably dark ones. Dark catacombs, great!"

"Technically, I think it's called a maze of the dead."

Lena frowned, already fearing the place, "You can stop any time you like, you know."

"Father Octavian?" a soldier called.

"Excuse me, sir," Octavian said before leaving the group.

The Doctor waved him off then used his screwdriver on some of the equipment on the table.

"You're letting people call you "sir". Don't take you for a man who does that," Avalon remarked as she helped Lena sit on the table.

"What's a Weeping Angel?" Lena asked.

"And is it bad?" Amy added, "Like really bad?"

"Hm, now that's interesting..." he turned to the three women, "You're still here. Which part of ' _Wait in the TARDIS till I tell you it's safe_ ' was so confusing?"

"Which part of I don't follow orders was so confusing?" Avalon countered, a small smirk on her face.

"Ooh, are you all Mr Grumpy Face today?" Amy teased and Avalon laughed, Lena simply shaking her head with a small sigh.

"A Weeping Angel is the deadliest, most powerful, most malevolent life form evolution has ever produced, and one is trapped inside that wreckage and I'm supposed to climb in with a screwdriver and a torch-and assuming I survive the radiation, and the whole ship doesn't blow up in my face-do something clever which I haven't actually thought of yet. That's my day, that's what I'm up to. Any questions?"

"Is River Song your wife?" Amy tilted her head, the man nearly strangling her out of frustration. Between she and Avalon he really didn't know who would end up killing him out of frustration first.

"She's got a point though," the second ginger, of course, had to add, "Cos she's someone from your future, and the way she talks to you, I've not seen anyone do that."

"Yeah, she's kinda like, you know, "Heel, boy!"" Amy nodded, "She's Mrs Doctor from the future, isn't she? Is she gonna be your wife one day?"

"You guys are being nosy," Lena scolded, hopping off the table and moving beside the Doctor, "And rude."

"Thank you," the Doctor said to Lena, "And yes, I am definitely Mr Grumpy Face today."

"Don't be, it's not a good face on you," Lena wagged a finger.

"Doctor? Doctor!" River called from a transport.

"Oops! Her indoors!" Amy exclaimed and she and Avalon laughed.

"Father Octavian!" River called.

"Why do they call them Father?" Lena asked the Doctor, the two leaving the laughing gingers.

"He's their Bishop, they're his clerics. It's the 51st Century, the Church has moved on."

~ 0 ~

The group stood inside the transport ship with a large screen and monitors at the end of the room. A black and white footage of a Weeping Angel with its hands over its eyes was being watched, River controlling the video with a remote.

"What do you think? It's from the security cameras in the Byzantium vault," she said, "I ripped it when I was on board. Sorry about the quality. It's four seconds. I've put it on loop."

"Yeah, it's an Angel. Hands covering its face," the Doctor nodded.

"You've encountered the Angels before?" Octavian asked.

"Once, on Earth, a long time ago. But those were scavengers, barely surviving."

"But this is just a statue," Amy shrugged.

"It's a statue when you see it," Lena informed, giving up on the normal human charade from now on.

"What?" Amy looked at her.

"Dad used to tell us this story to scare us," Avalon smiled and shook her head, "But it didn't scare me."

"I bet it didn't," River nudged her.

"Nothing scares me, River Song. If we're going to be meeting you with the Doctor, then it's one thing you should know."

"So where did it come from?" the Doctor asked.

"Oh, pulled from the ruins of Razbahan, end of last century. It's been in private hands ever since, dormant all that time," River explained.

"There's a difference between dormant and patient," the Doctor corrected.

"What's that mean, it's a statue when you see it?" Amy looked between them in confusion. Nothing anyone said was making sense, especially the twins!

"The story went that Weeping Angels could only move if they were unseen," Lena explained to her friend, understanding it could be quite confusing.

"Oh it's not a legend, baby sister," the Doctor sighed, missing the confusion one of his ginger companions wore, "It's a quantum lock. In the sight of any living creature, the Angels literally cease to exist. They're just stone. The ultimate defense mechanism."

"What, being a stone?" Amy scoffed, "Statues can't really move, Doctor. Don't know how that went by in your place."

"It's stone, Amy, until you turn your back on them," Avalon informed, dead quiet as she cast her twin a concerned look. She wanted Lena no where near those awful creatures.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor was leading the group out of the transport while speaking to Octavian, "The hyperdrive would've split on impact. The whole ship will be flooded with radiation, cracked electrons, gravity storms, deadly to almost any living thing."

"Deadly to an Angel?" Octavian asked, well _hoped_.

"Dinner to an Angel. The longer we leave it, the stronger it will grow," the Doctor said.

"Is there anyone around this place?" Avalon asked suddenly, "Anyone in danger of with this thing nearby?"

River was already on it and began reading what her device was saying to her, "The Aplans built the temple, the indigenous life-form. But they died out 400 years ago."

"200 years later, the planet was terraformed," Octavian added, "Currently there are six billion human colonists."

"You lot, you're everywhere! Like rabbits! I'll never get done saving you," the Doctor amusingly smiled and shook his head.

"Sir, if there is a clear and present danger to the local population..." Octavian trailed off, pausing when the Doctor nodded, his amused smile no longer on his face.

"Oh, there is. Bad as it gets. Bishop, lock and load!"

Octavian nodded and started with his commands, "Verger, how we doing with those explosives? Dr Song, with me."

"Two minutes," River waved him off as he walked away, "Ava, I need you."

Avalon froze and looked after River, "Hold on..." she went after the woman, the Doctor closely behind the ginger, "...why did you call me that?"

"Call you what?" River asked as she looked through books on a desk.

"Ava, only one person calls me that and it's most certainly not you," Avalon said, quite serious.

"I know him, silly," River waved her off, still trying to find that blasted book.

"I told you, she's from the future," the Doctor explained again.

"Yeah but she's from _your_ future," the ginger pointed at him.

"And you're in it," River turned to them with a big grin.

"But so is Amy and Lena," Avalon reminded.

"Right, yes, Lena is called 'Lena' sometimes and when you seriously want to anger Amy, you call her 'Amelia'."

"How do you know all that?" Avalon stepped back, severely disliking the fact a woman she didn't know apparently knew all about her and her sister and friend.

River's grin only widened as she picked up the book she'd been looking for, "Don't fret. One day you'll all figure it out."

With a small irritated frown, Avalon looked back at the Doctor, "Now I get why you're so irritated with her."

The Doctor nodded silently.

~ 0 ~

"No one needs me," Amy paced back and forth inside the transport ship, Lena sitting in a chair with her legs crossed.

"I need you," Lena raised a hand with a small smile, getting one back from Amy, "And Rory. How is Rory, by the way?"

Amy stopped pacing and kept to the side, for some reason really hoping the topic of Rory wouldn't ever come into conversation...well not forever...maybe just...a couple more months?

"Amy?" Lena called again, "Are you okay?"

"Hm? Yes, but hey, I'd like to know something," Amy faced her, hoping to change the subject, "How do you and Avalon know about the Weeping Angels? I'm pretty sure that wasn't one of the fairy tales Avalon has in her room."

"Amy I'm going to share my family's biggest secret with you, alright? I really hope you don't get angry with us," Lena announced and Amy nodded, "We're actually humans from the future. Our parents were born on another planet called New Earth." Amy's mouth fell open, no words emerging. "Our several times grandparents were actually from a livestock in a hospital the Doctor managed to save and cure from every disease. Our specific species is actually quite immune to most diseases out there. Well, _I'm_ not immune to the diseases which is why I'm actually weaker than Avalon and the rest of my family."

"But you said it was just a-"

"Forget everything we said cos it was a lie. My immune system didn't develop quite right and mutated. I'm prone to get more sick and tired than the normal species."

"So all this time you and Avalon...weren't humans..." Amy breathed.

"We are, just from the future," Lena shrugged, "We're evolved Humans."

"Lena that's...that's..." but Amy trailed off as she noticed the screen above the brunette where the Weeping Angel image was.

Lena followed her gaze up to the screen and frowned, "What's wrong?"

~ 0 ~

River was busy showing the Doctor and Avalon a book in her hands, "I found this. Definitive work on the Angels. Well, the only one. Written by a madman, it's barely readable, but I've marked a few passages."

The Doctor took the book from her and finished it up, "Not bad, bit slow in the middle, didn't you hate his girlfriend? No, hang on, wait, wait!" and he sniffed the book.

"Why did you just sniff that? What _possible_ information can you get from _sniffing_ the book?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, River snickering beside her.

Amy popped her head out of the transport, "Dr. Song? Did you have more than one clip of the Angel?" she called.

"No, just the four seconds," River answered absently.

Puzzled, Amy returned to the ship.

"This book is wrong! What's wrong with this book, it's wrong," the Doctor shook the book in frustration.

~ 0 ~

"Amy, what is it?" Lena insisted but the ginger just came back inside and forced her to stand away from the monitor, "Amy?"

"The Angel..." was all Amy could say as she focused on the video. The Angel was now facing forwards with its hands down at its side. Amy moved closer to the screen and bent over to see the time code.

"It just... _changed_..." Lena blinked as she caught the problem.

With the two so focused, neither noticed the door close and lock behind them.

~ 0 ~

"Give me that," Avalon snatched the book from the Doctor and started skimming a few pages, the Doctor frowning at her rudeness, neither noticing how River observed them both.

"That was not nice," the Doctor pointed at the ginger.

"Get that finger out of my face before I bite it," she warned quietly as she read a couple lines.

"You wouldn't dare-" but he quickly jerked his hand away from her after she suddenly leaned forwards and actually tried sinking her teeth into his finger. He took a step away from her with wide eyes, "Are you human or a Parana?"

She plainly shrugged, "Don't know. Go ahead and find out," she flashed a smirk before flipping to the next page.

"Don't you dare either of you," River playfully rolled her eyes, "Not with those baby faces."

"What are you talking about?" Avalon asked, both she and the Doctor sending River a confused glance.

River simply smiled at the pair, "How early is this for you?"

"Very early," the Doctor replied.

"Ah, so very early for you too," River nodded to Avalon, "So no one knows who I am yet?"

"How do you know who _I_ am?" the Doctor curiously asked, "I don't always look the same."

"I've got pictures of all your faces. Neither of you ever show up in the right order though."

"Neither?" the Doctor had caught that last word, glancing at Avalon who had become too engrossed in the book to be paying attention. He blinked when River just sent him a small wink and smirk, prompting a small blush on his face.

"Dr. Song, why aren't there any pictures in this book?" Avalon suddenly asked, only seeing River still smirking at the man as she moved over to the ginger.

~ 0 ~

Amy had picked up the remote of the video and tried turning it off but the image kept coming back.

"If it's just a recording then how can it move?" Lena questioned, already moving back from it.

Amy instead moved forwards and peered at the screen, setting the remote down, "Maybe it's... _not_...just a recording?" she mumbled.

"Try the plug," Lena pointed and Amy went down to unplug the power source, "Amy it's moved!" Lena nearly shouted when the two had looked back up to see the Angel's face close to the camera, "We need to get out of here!" she rushed to the door first, "Avalon!" she exclaimed.

Amy tried opening the door but found it wouldn't budge. She looked back at the screen and saw the Angel with its mouth open like a predator, her eyes widening, "Doctor!"

~ 0 ~

"This whole book warns about the Weeping Angels and yet not one picture is given as a visual description," Avalon was explaining to River.

"There was a bit about images," River mumbled as she tried finding it on the page.

"Yes! I remember that, hang on..." the Doctor took the book from Avalon and flipped through it until he found the correct page, "That which holds the image of an angel becomes itself an angel.'"

"What does that mean? ' _An image of a Angel becomes itself an Angel_ '," River looked at Avalon, knowing if anyone could figure out a quote it would definitely be her.

"Simple, they're saying an Angel can literally come to..." Avalon blinked, her eyes widening, "... _life_." She remembered where Lena was at the current moment. "Lena!" she dashed back for the door of the transport ship.

~ 0 ~

Amy was punching the keypad while Lena pounded on the door, desperately crying out for help, "Avalon! Avalon!"

~ 0 ~

The small trio ran to the door and found the door locked up.

"Lina? Are you alright!? What's happening!?" Avalon struggled with the door.

~ 0 ~

"It's the Angel!" Lena exclaimed.

"Doctor! Doctor, it's coming out of the television," Amy added, "The Angel is here."

~ 0 ~

"Lena, remember the story, don't take your eyes off it!" Avalon instructed and looked at the Doctor frantically, "Do something, please!"

He had already taken out his screwdriver and tried using it on the keypad, "The Angel can't move if you're looking at it," he called to the girls inside, " What's wrong? It's deadlocked."

River was busy trying to override the controls to the side, "There is no deadlock."

"Don't blink, Amy, Lina. Don't even blink!" he ordered the girls.

~ 0 ~

"What are you doing?" Avalon asked the man as he tried something new with the screwdriver.

"Cutting the power. It's using the screen, I'm turning the screen off," he explained and then sighed, "It's no good, it's deadlocked the whole system."

"There's no deadlock," River reminded.

"Well there is one now!" Avalon snapped.

"Help us!" Amy and Lena cried together from the inside.

"Amy! Can you turn it off?" the Doctor tried asking but they kept shouting together, "The screen, can you turn it off?"

"I tried," Amy responded.

"Try again but don't take your eyes off the Angel."

"We're not!" Lena assured.

"Just don't look at the eyes," Avalon suddenly warned, " not the eyes.

"Why?" Amy asked.

'What is it, Ava?" River stopped her work, knowing there was something she and the Doctor had apparently missed in the book.

""The eyes are not the windows of the soul, they are the doors. Beware what may enter there," Avalon recited and stepped back from the door, "Lena, don't look into its eyes, you too Amy!"

~ 0 ~

But Amy immediately went for the eyes while Lena made sure to look at its clothing instead.

~ 0 ~

"And step away from the door," Avalon ordered.

"What? Why?" Amy asked.

"I'm Avalon, Amy. Why do you think?"

~ 0 ~

Inside, the two women looked at each other and hurried up to the monitors, still looking at the Angel of course.

~ 0 ~

"What are you going to do..." the Doctor tried asking but River had already pulled him away from the door.

Avalon whipped out a small squarness gun from the inside of her boot and shot straight at the door, blasting a big hole inside, "Lena!" she cried and dropped the gun before running inside for her twin.

"Avalon!" Lena rushed over and encased the ginger in a tight hug, "Thank you!"

"It's okay now, it's okay," Avalon kissed her sister's head, "You didn't look at the eyes, right?" she pulled away and studied her sister.

"No, I listened," she assured.

"What the hell was that?" the Doctor entered the room with a big scolding face.

"Uh...hello..." Amy waved from her spot, still looking at the Angel for everyone's sake, "A little help would be nice."

"Anything that takes the image of an Angel is an Angel," Avalon recited and hurried up to the desk and picked up the remote, pausing it when static appeared, "There," River went ahead and unplugged the screen.

"Amazing!" River praised and hugged the ginger.

"I try to be," Avalon laughed, but really out of fear for her sister...though no one would ever know that.

"Uh, hello?" the Doctor waved the squareness gun in his hand, "How? What? And where?"

"I found it inside my room..." Avalon cleared her throat and innocently wrapped her fingers around her curls.

The Doctor tilted his head, his eyes hardening on the ginger's blatant lie. "Really?"

"I know what I'm doing!"

"And you just carry it around in your _shoe_?"

"Do I have my purse?" she gestured to her free arms.

"Yes, but... _shoe_? _Gun_?"

"Oh give it up, you carry a _screwdriver_. Least people know what my weapon does!"

"Okay, before we get into more bickering..." River stepped between the two, hands apart to keep those two apart, "...how's about that Angel? Was that it?"

"That was a projection of the Angel," the Doctor answered in a mutter, "It's reaching out, getting a good look at us. It's no longer dormant. And _I'm_ keeping this," he waved to Avalon her gun.

"But that's mine!" the ginger tried lunging for it but River kept her back while the Doctor simply rose the weapon with his hand, "You can't do that!"

"My TARDIS, my companion, my decision," he informed.

"I'm gonna kill you!" she declared and continued her attempts to get her hands on him.

River just laughed as she tried pushing the ginger back gently, "Oh, the first of many."

The group rushed out of the transport ship upon hearing an explosion that had managed to rock them.

"It's gone positive!" a soldier called out.

"Doctor! We're through!" Octavian announced.

"Okay, now it starts," the Doctor mumbled and headed outside, a very peeved Avalon behind him with her twin at her side.

Amy rubbed her left eye before following, River catching the action, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. There's just...something in my eye."

~ 0 ~

The group found themselves climbing down a rope ladder where Octavian and several more soldiers awaited. Once at the bottom, the Doctor and Octavian burned their torches to look around.

"Do we have a gravity globe?" the Doctor questioned.

"Grav globe," Octavian ordered and was given a sphere from one of the soldiers.

"Where are we? What is this?" Amy asked as River stood beside her.

"It's an Aplan mortarium. Sometimes called a maze of the dead," River replied.

"And what's that?" Lena, with a shaky voice, asked.

"Well, if you happen to be a creature of living stone..." the Doctor trailed off as he kicked the gravity sphere as if it was a football and it rise into the air where it stopped and showed the number of stone statues, "The perfect hiding place..." the Doctor mumbled.

"I guess this makes it a bit trickier," Octavian breathed as he saw the millions of statues.

"A bit, yeah," the Doctor nodded.

"A stone angel on the loose amongst stone statues. A lot harder than I'd prayed for."

"A needle in a haystack," Avalon offered, moving closer to Lena's side. One Weeping Angel was bad enough and now she had to protect her sister from a Weeping Angel in hiding? She'd be a little more at ease if a certain alien hadn't kept her gun...

"A needle that looks like hay," the Doctor began, "A hay-like needle. Of death. A hay-alike needle of death in a haystack of, er, statues. No, yours was fine."

"Of course it was," Avalon waved him off.

"Right. Check every single statue in this chamber," Octavian gave the orders, "You know what you're looking for. Complete visual inspection. One question - how do we fight it?

"We find it, and hope," the Doctor declared and walked off, Amy following.

"From this point on, you do _not_ let go of my hand, got it?" Avalon had taken hold of Lena's hand and put quite a grip on it.

"Got it," Lena nodded and so they went off as well.

River had tried to go and follow the group but Octavian grabbed her by the arm and held her back, "They don't know yet, do they?" Octavian asked her, "What you are...?"

"It's too early in their time streams," River mumbled.

"Well, make sure he doesn't work it out, or he's not gonna help us," Octavian warned.

"I won't let you down. Believe you me, I have no intention of going back to prison. But you better keep your mouth shut with her, not ONE word, understood?"

"Suppose that's fair," Octavian let her go.

A soldier walked up to the two, "Sir? Side chamber. One visible exit."

"Check it out. Angelo, go with him."

The two soldiers nodded and walked off to check the chamber.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor was shining his torch in every direction before moving, the twins closely behind. Amy was moving to follow as well when she stopped to look at the numerous levels up above. She rubbed the corner of her eye with a finger and found a small grit. She used her entire hand and sand and grit came out through her fingers. Afraid, she stopped immediately and studied her hand to find nothing.

River had walked up beside the girl and looked at her, "You all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Amy forgot the moment and shrugged, "So, what's a maze of the dead?"

"Oh, it's not as bad as it sounds. It's just a labyrinth with dead people buried in the walls..." River paused and shook her head, "OK, that was fairly bad. Right give me your arm," she showed the ginger a syringe with a smile, "This won't hurt a bit."

Amy yelped upon being shot, "Ow!" she shot the woman a small glare.

That _had_ hurt.

"There, you see. I lied. It's a viro-stabilise," River shrugged then turned for the others, "Oi, twins! Come here a sec," she waved the syringe.

The two Reynolds came towards the women, still hand-in-hand as Avalon had ordered, "What is it?" Avalon frowned, disliking any needles that went near her sister.

"It's a viro-stabilize," River repeated, "It stabilizes your metabolism against radiation, drive burn, anything. You're going to need it when we get up to that ship, no matter how evolved you are."

Avalon held her own arm first, "Go ahead."

"Does it hurt?" Lena frowned, flinching when Avalon was shot, though the ginger only crinkled her nose.

"No," Avalon replied and gently lifted her arm for River. River injected Lena who flinched badly again. Avalon rubbed the spot where Lena had been injected and looked at River, speaking very quietly, "You know he's listening to us, right?" she made a small nod to the Doctor who was conspicuously reading off River's device a few feet ahead of them.

"He thinks he's so clever," River rolled her eyes, "Ask me a question, any of you," she looked at the three.

"Um..." Lena thought, "What's my big brother like in the future?"

"Cos you know him in the future, don't you?" Amy joined in.

"The Doctor? Well, the Doctor's the Doctor," River answered, hiding her smirk from the man behind the women.

"Oh, well that's very helpful. Mind if we write that down?" Avalon asked.

"Yes, we are."

"Sorry, what?" the Doctor finally turned to them, still 'reading' from the device.

"Talking about you," River shook her head.

"I wasn't listening, I'm busy."

"Yeah, you might want to turn that the _other_ way," Avalon swayed on her feet, "Just a suggestion."

"Oh, shut up," he frowned and turned away, this time actually focusing on his work.

"Just a heads up, he's big on eavesdropping," River nudged the ginger and walked around the three women for her own work.

"What's that got to do with me?" Avalon frowned and looked at the other two.

Lena shrugged, "You talk a lot when you write, maybe that's it."

"Still doesn't make sense," Amy mumbled, "Anything that women says, actually. She acts like his wife and then she gives these little hints..."

"Hints of what?" the twins asked together.

"Nothing," Amy moved around them as well, seemingly upset about something.

She actually liked that River person, despite the Doctor's apparent uneasy feelings on the woman. River seemed funny, she seemed sneaky and flirty. She moved around like she was practically married to the Doctor but then...she'd say these little things, like her last words to Avalon, that made Amy confused...upset. River was from the future, that was a fact, and because of that she knew exactly who ended with who in the future...

Amy had a little desire for the Doctor's 'who' to be _herself_...just for a tiny bit...nothing permanent.

But for some reason, River kept leaning more to Avalon and that bothered Amy. Avalon had always had a much closer relationship to Rory and Amy believed that when Rory actually confessed his feelings to her that the relationship with Avalon would sort of...waft down a bit.

That wasn't the case.

Rory and Avalon were always super duper close, sharing laughs and whatnot, even sports! Rory _hated_ sports! But because Avalon liked them, so did he...just to make her happy. Amy had heard repeatedly from Lena that Avalon had only a platonic love for Rory, like a brother, and nothing more beyond that. But there was always a bit of doubt Amy had for Lena's words...and somehow that made her shift a little more to the Doctor for some reason. Technically, he had landed in _her_ garden, in _her_ backyard; Avalon was only a guest at that time. She can't also take the alien, no! Amy knew she didn't want anything permanent, anything real, with the Doctor but perhaps a little...adventure...wouldn't be so bad.

Avalon couldn't have him too, no sir.

~ 0 ~

"Once hearing gunfire, the group ran back down to the main chamber where a young cleric stood, having just fired the weapon at a statue. The Doctor quickly moved up to see but only saw a regular stature.

"Sorry. Sorry, I thought... I thought it looked at me," the cleric nervously said, still shaking a bit.

"We know what the Angel looks like. Is that the Angel?" Octavian, rather rudely, asked.

"No, sir."

"No, sir, it is not! According to the Doctor, we are facing an enemy of unknowable power and infinite evil. So it would be good, it would be very good, if we could all remain calm in the presence of decor."

"Don't be rude," Lena spoke up, getting everyone's attention.

Usually she'd be all for staying behind everyone and letting them do their things but the man had been clearly afraid and simply shot to save his life. She could empathize because she practically lived to be afraid of things. She'd never once been reprimanded for her fears, not even by Mels and that was saying something as the woman lived to make trouble.

"I bet if you were afraid you would've shot too," she said to Octavian then looked at the cleric, "Are you okay?" the cleric nodded with a small smile, appreciative that someone wasn't irritated with him.

"My baby sister has a point," the Doctor agreed, "What's your name?" he asked the cleric.

"Bob, sir."

"Ah, that's a great name. I love Bob."

"It's a Sacred Name. We all have Sacred Names, they're given to us in the service of the Church," Octavian explained.

"Sacred Bob. More like Scared Bob now, eh?" the Doctor playfully teased the cleric.

"Yes, sir."

"Ah, good. Scared keeps you fast. Anyone in this room who isn't scared is a moron. Carry on," the Doctor declared and took Lena's hand, quite forcefully from Avalon who shot him a small glare for it.

"We'll be moving into the maze in two minutes," Octavian said then looked to Bob, "You stay with Christian and Angelo. Guard the approach."

~ 0 ~

"Isn't there a chance this lot's just gonna collapse? There's a whole ship up there," Amy kept looking up every time she remembered where they were.

"Incredible builders, the Aplans," River remarked, not at all perturbed.

"Had dinner with their chief architect once," the Doctor said, "Two heads are better than one."

"You mean you helped him?" Lena looked at him.

"No, I mean he had two heads. That book, the very end, what did it say?"

"Hang on," River took the book out of her backpack and handed it to Avalon while she re-closed her bag.

"Read it to me," the Doctor ordered.

Avalon rolled her eyes but did as told. She wasn't very pleased he'd taken her twin from her but did, nonetheless, know that he would protect Lena like she would. She just wasn't quite used to sharing the job with anyone else, except her family of course. Avalon flipped to the last page of the book she held and started reading aloud, " _What if we had ideas that could think for themselves? What if one day our dreams no longer needed us? When these things occur and are held to be true, the time will be upon us. The time of Angels._ "

~ 0 ~

"Are we there yet? It's a hell of a climb," Amy sighed as they walked.

"The maze is on six levels representing the ascent of the soul," River explained, "Only two levels to go."

"I'm getting tired," Lena complained.

"I'd recommend a rest spot but this may not be the ideal place," the Doctor said.

"Perhaps the city?" Lena joked.

"How about the Aplans? We could visit them some time."

"I thought they were all dead?" Avalon reminded.

"So's Virginia Woolf. I'm on her bowling team. Very relaxed, sort of cheerful. That's having two heads. You're never short of a snog with an extra head."

"Doctor, there's something. I don't know what it is..." River trailed off as she kept looking around, something in the pit of her stomach telling her to get them out, apart from the regular danger that always came with the Doctor.

"Yeah, something wrong. Don't know what it is yet either, working on it," the Doctor casually waved her off, "Then they started having laws against self-marrying and what was that about? But that's the church for you. Erm, no offence, Bishop."

Octavian just made a face at those words, "Quite a lot taken, if that's all right, Doctor."

They arrived at a narrow passage lined with statues on either side.

"Lowest point in the wreckage is only about 50 feet up from here. That way," Octavian pointed.

"Church had a point, if you think about it. The divorces must have been messy," Amy chuckled.

However, the Doctor suddenly stopped and closely looked at a statue, his eyes widening when he realized it, "Oh!"

"What's wrong?" Lena asked.

River also blinked as the light bulb lit up in her head, "Oh!" she looked at the Doctor.

"Exactly," he nodded, slowly pulling Lena behind him.

"How could we not notice that?" River did the same with Avalon, though that particular ginger wasn't too fond of the idea. She was never the one to go behind people's back for protection. She hated it!

"Low level perception filter, or maybe we're thick," the Doctor said.

"Speak for yourself!" Avalon exclaimed, forcefully moving beside River.

"What's wrong, sir?" Octavian asked.

"Nobody move. Everyone stay exactly where they are," the Doctor instructed, "Bishop, I am truly sorry. I've made a mistake and we are all in danger."

' _What_ danger?" Avalon's eyes immediately fell to her twin.

"The Aplans," River explained.

"What about them?" Amy asked, confused on what was so important.

"They've got two heads."

"Yes, we get that. So?"

"Oh..." Avalon's eyes widened, now realizing the problem.

"Oh _what_?" Amy raised an eyebrow.

"The statues-" the Doctor began, "- _don't_ have two heads," the ginger's eyes widened, "Everyone, over there. Just move, don't ask questions, don't speak," everyone moved to a spot with no statues, "OK. I want you all to switch off your torches."

"You're kidding me?" Avalon shot him a sharp look.

"Just do it," he reiterated. Everyone turned off their torches except for him, "OK. I'm going to turn off this one too, just for a moment."

"Are you sure about this?" Lena looked at him, unlike her twin with a nervous face.

"No."

"You make me feel so much better, brother."

The Doctor shrugged and switched off his torch for only a split second. Upon turning it back on, they saw all the statues in front of them FACING them unlike their previous position.

"Oh, my God! They've moved!" Amy gasped as the Doctor ran ahead.

Quickly, the rest of the group followed the Doctor and saw all the statues lining their way to the ship, "They're Angels. All of them!" he exclaimed.

"But they can't be," River breathed.

"Clerics, keep watching them," the Doctor backtracked and saw the Angels moved forward, "Every statue in this maze, every single one, is a Weeping Angel. They're coming after us."

~ 0 ~

"There was only one Angel on the ship. Just the one, I swear," River was saying to the group.

"Could they have been here already?" Lena offered.

"The Aplans, how did they die out?" the Doctor asked.

"Nobody knows..." River blinked with realization.

" _We_ know," Avalon scoffed.

"They don't look like Angels, though," Octavian pointed out.

Amy nodded in agreement, "And they're not fast. You said they were fast. They should have had us by now."

"They're dying. Losing their form. They must have been down here for centuries, starving," the Doctor sighed.

"Losing their image," Amy shrugged.

"And their image is their power. Power. Power!"

"Doctor?" Lena frowned at his almost excitement. This was not the time for him to get excited over a dangerous situation!

"Don't you see? All that radiation spilling out, the drive burn. The crash wasn't an accident - it was a rescue mission, for the Angels. We're in the middle of an army and it's waking up."

"We need to get out of here fast," River snapped, almost angry. How could she be so stupid and call him and the girls in? Granted, she believed a much older version of them would come to help out. But no, to her luck the baby-faced group had turned up and now were in danger because of her miscalculation. Oh, she was just awful!

Octavian had begun speaking into his radio, "Bob, Angelo, Christian, come in, please. Any of you, come in!"

"It's Bob, sir. Sorry, sir."

"Bob, are Angelo and Christian with you? All the statues are active. I repeat, all the statues are active!"

"I know, sir. Angelo and Christian are dead, sir. The statues killed them, sir."

The Doctor's head snapped over to Octavian and he quickly moved to take the radio from him, "Bob, Sacred Bob, it's me, the Doctor. Where are you now?"

Octavian frowned, "I'm talking to my..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, shut up!"

"I'm on my way up to you, sir, I'm homing on your signal," Bob said.

"Well done, Bob. Scared keeps you fast, told you, didn't I? Your friends, Bob, what did the Angel do to them?"

"Snapped their necks, sir."

"That's not how Angels kill you," Avalon frowned, "At least that's not what dad used to tell us. They displace you in time."

"Unless they needed the bodies for something," the Doctor mumbled, about to speak into the radio when Octavian snatched it from him.

"Bob, did you check their data packs for vital signs? We may be able to initiate a rescue plan."

The Doctor took back the radio and gave him a look, "Don't be an idiot! The Angels don't leave you alive!" he then spoke into the radio, "Bob, keep running, but tell me, how did you escape?"

"I didn't escape, sir. The Angel killed me, too," Bob said, much to the group's shock.

Slowly, the Doctor spoke into the radio again, "What do you mean the Angel killed you too?"

"Snapped my neck, sir. Wasn't as painless as I expected but it was pretty quick, so that was something."

"If you're dead, how can I be talking to you?"

"You're not talking to me, sir. The Angel has no voice. It stripped my cerebral cortex from my body and re-animated a version of my consciousness to communicate with you. Sorry about the confusion."

"So when you say you're on your way up to us..."

"It's the Angel that's coming, sir, yes."

"No way out."

"Then we get out through the wreckage. Go!" Octavian exclaimed, shooing the women.

"Go, go, go. All of you run!" the Doctor agreed.

"But we can't..." Lena frowned.

"Here," he took out her asthma inhaler and placed it in her palm, "Now you can. I'm coming, just go, go, go!"

The women ran off with the clerics, leaving the Doctor and Octavian alone.

"Called you an idiot. Sorry, but there's no way we could have rescued your men," the Doctor said to Octavian, genuinely sorry for his choice of words.

"I know that, sir. And when you've flown away in your little blue box, I'll explain that to their families," Octavian walked off.

The Doctor shook his head and spoke into the radio again, "Angel Bob, which Angel am I talking to? The one from the ship?"

"Yes, sir. The other Angels are still restoring."

"Ah, so the Angel is not in the wreckage. Thank you," he quickly ran along the passage and saw Amy just waiting, "Don't wait for me, go, run."

"I can't!" she cried and the Doctor hurried back to help her, "No, really I can't."

"Why not?"

"Look at it. Look at my hand. It's stone!" Amy looked down at her hand on the rail, seeming like stone.

River, Octavian, the twins and the other clerics arrived at an open chamber where they could see the ship above them.

"Well. There it is - the Byzantium," Octavian looked up.

"Well, it's got to be 30 feet. How do we get up there?" River asked.

"Check all these exits. I want them all secure."

The Doctor was flashing his torch in Amy's eyes and sighed, "You looked into the eyes of an Angel, didn't you? What did Avalon say?"

"I couldn't stop myself. I tried. I don't do orders either," the ginger frowned.

"Listen. It's messing with your head. Your hand is not made of stone."

"It is. Look at it!" Amy nearly shouted, but really how could he not see it?

"It's in your mind. I promise you. You can move that hand. You can let go."

"I can't, OK? I've tried and I can't. It's stone."

The Doctor's torchlight began flickering, alerting him the Angel was nearing, "The Angel is gonna come and it's gonna turn this light off, and then there's nothing I can do to stop it. So do it, concentrate, move your hand!"

"I can't," the ginger whimpered.

"Then we're both going to die!"

"You're not going to die."

"They'll kill the lights," the Doctor reminded her as the light flickered off and the Angels moved closer.

"You've got to go, you know you have. You've got all that stuff with River and that's all got to happen," Amy reminded, deciding to believe that it was River who he'd end up with in the future, "You know you can't die here!"

"Time can be re-written, it doesn't work like that," the Doctor reminded as Amy looked back at the Angels, "Keep your eyes on it. Don't blink."

"Run!" Amy exclaimed.

"You see, I'm not going, I'm not leaving you here."

"I don't need you to die for me, Doctor, do I look that clingy?"

"You can move your hand," the Doctor said.

"It's stone!"

"It's not stone!"

"Those people up there will die without you. River, Avalon, your baby sister! If you stay here with me, you'll have as good as killed them."

"Amy Pond, you are magnificent. And I'm sorry."

"It's OK. I understand. You've got to leave me."

"Oh, no, I'm not leaving you, never. I'm sorry about this," and then the Doctor bit her hand, making the ginger scream in pain and jerk her hand away, "See, not stone. Now run!"

"You bit me!" she accused, rubbing her hand.

"Yep and you're alive," the Doctor reminded.

"I've got a mark! Look at my hand!" she held her hand for him yo see but he used it to yank her behind him.

"Yeah, and you're alive, did I mention?"

"Blimey, your teeth! Have you got space teeth?"

"Alive. All I'm saying," he concluded and ran off with her.

~ 0 ~

A cleric sent off to check passages returned to the group, "The statues are advancing along all corridors. And, sir, my torch keeps flickering."

"They all do," Octavian reminded.

"So does the gravity globe,' River added.

"Clerics, we're down to four men. Expect incoming," Octavian gave the warning.

"Yeah, it's the Angels. They're coming. And they're draining the power for themselves," the Doctor explained while he looked for another way out.

"Which means we won't be able to see them," Avalon mumbled, her hand gripping Lena's, "And we can't stay here so do something, please!"

"There are more incoming!" Octavian exclaimed.

"Any suggestions?" River looked around for ideas.

"The statues are advancing on all sides and we don't have the climbing equipment to reach the Byzantium," Octavian reminded.

"There's no way up, no way back, no way out," she looked at the Doctor, her heart racing as she thought of the full-on danger No pressure, but this is usually when you have a really good idea.

"There's always a way out," he said and heard his echo. The lights flickered off again and the Angels appeared far too close for their liking, "There's always a way out," he repeated, assured.

"Doctor? Can I speak to the Doctor, please?" Angel Bob's voice came through the radio.

Bitterly, the Doctor took hold of the radio and spoke, "Hello, Angels. What's your problem?"

"Your power will not last much longer, and the Angels will be with you shortly. Sorry, sir."

"Why are you telling me this?" the Doctor looked at the group, feeling awful of the horror he saw in Lena's face. The girl really wasn't up for this kind of adventures. He himself didn't like this! He assured Avalon he'd help protect her because in reality he had grown attached to the little brunette, she really did remind him of a little sister and this was not how he wanted to care for her.

"There's something the Angels are very keen you should know before the end," Angel Bob brought the Doctor out of his thoughts.

"Which is?"

"I died in fear."

"I'm sorry?"

"You told me my fear would keep me alive but I died afraid, in pain and alone. You made me trust you, and when it mattered, you let me down."

"What are they doing?" Avalon whispered to River, seeing the Doctor tense at the words being said.

"They're trying to make him angry," River replied.

"Is that very smart?"

"Not really."

"I'm sorry, sir. The Angels were very keen for you to know that," Angel Bob said.

"Well then, the Angels have made their second mistake because I'm not going to let that pass," the Doctor snapped, "I'm sorry you're dead, Bob, but I swear to whatever is left of you, they will be sorrier."

"But you're trapped, sir, and about to die."

"Yeah, I'm trapped. Speaking of traps, this trap has got a great big mistake in it. A great big, whopping mistake!"

"What mistake, sir?"

But the Doctor ignored the Angel and looked at Amy, "Trust me?"

"Yeah," the ginger nodded.

He looked at the twins, "Trust me?"

"Of course," Lena replied, Avalon nodding in agreement.

He looked at River next but before he could even repeated the question she nodded, "Oh I do," she answered.

"You lot - trust me?" he looked at Octavian and the clerics.

"Sir, two more incoming!" one of the cleris guarding the passage reported.

"We have faith, sir," Octavian answered.

"Great," he took out Avalon's gun much to the ginger's shock.

"Oi, that's mine!" she tried reaching for it but River held her back.

"You said you trusted me," he reminded.

"But not with that! You don't know the first thing about them!"

"Oh, but I do..." he mumbled quietly, his gaze falling for a moment.

Avalon stopped as she saw him, feeling there was something he was hiding and a painful something by the looks of it. She sighed, "Fine, go ahead," she motioned for him to do whatever he was planning.

"Right, I'm about to do something incredibly stupid and dangerous. When I do...jump," he jumped in place as example.

"Jump where?" Octavian questioned.

"Just jump, high as you can. Come on, leap of faith, Bishop. On my signal."

"What signal?"

"You won't miss it," the Doctor aimed the gun at the roof.

"Sorry, can I ask again? You mentioned a mistake?" Angel Bob asked from the radio.

"Oh, big mistake. Huge. There's one thing you never put in a trap, if you're smart, if you value your continued existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there is one thing you never, ever put in a trap."

"And what would that be, sir?"

"Me!"

The Doctor fired at the gravity globe and made it explode...

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

And we got River Song introduced! How do you think that's gonna go along the stories? xD. Since this is a 2-parter episode I might update a little quicker!

 **For the Review:**

 **autaro94** : Glad to hear you liked her! :) And yeah I see what you mean too, the Doctor and the TARDIS do have a significant relationship!


	5. Flesh & Stone

The Doctor stood in the middle of the group, the only one on his feet and the only one very much awake. Whatever he had done had pushed the others into a weird state of neither awake nor unconscious.

"Are you okay?" River asked Avalon as she sat up.

"Think so," Avalon rubbed her head and looked at Lena beside her, "Lena?"

"Okay," the brunette nodded, "Amy?"

"Yes, but what happened?" the second ginger looked around.

"We jumped," River answered and helped Avalon up who then helped Lena and then Amy.

"Jumped where, exactly?" Avalon asked.

"Up, up, look up!" the Doctor repeated.

"Why are you so excited all of a sudden?" she made a face and looked at River, "Is he like that in the future?"

"Oh even more so," River sighed.

"Where are we?" Lena questioned.

"Exactly where we were," the Doctor replied.

"Um, I'm pretty sure we're not," Amy frowned.

"No, really, we are," he assured, "Move your feet!" he ordered as he soniced an indentation on the floor.

"Doctor, what am I looking at?" Lena shifted, finding nothing wrong with the floor.

"Oh come on, baby sister, think!" he tapped her head gently, "The ship crashed with the power still on, yeah? So what else is still on?"

"Um..." Lena looked at Avalon for help. Avalon was always the one to figure things out, no her.

"No, no, don't do that," the Doctor frowned and turned Lena's head back to him, "Why'd you do that?"

"Because I'm not smart. Avalon always figures things out."

"Not always, Lena," Avalon sighed, disliking the way her twin always put herself down for some reason.

"We're gonna work on that," the Doctor declared to Avalon who nodded, "But the answer was: the artificial gravity. One good jump," he jumped in place, "And up we fell! Shot out the grav-globe to give us an updraft, and here we are!" he started up with the sonic at the indentation on the floor.

"Doctor. The statues, they look more like Angels now," Octavian pointed out.

"They're feeding on the radiation from the wreckage, draining all the power from the ship, restoring themselves. Within an hour, they'll be an army!" the Doctor had the indentation open up into the ship as the lights started going out, "They're taking out the lights. Look at them, look at the Angels. Into the ship, now, quickly all of you!" he slipped into the hole, leaving the others to peer down.

"But how? Doctor!" Amy called, seeing the Doctor standing upright and looking straight up.

"It's just a corridor. The gravity orientates to the floor. Now, in here, all of you., don't take your eyes off the Angels. Move, move, move!" he ordered and used the screwdriver on a keypad.

"OK, men, go, go, go!" Octavian ordered after the women had slipped into the hole, "The Angels, presumably they can jump up too?"

After everyone had gone inside, the door closed up.

"They're here. Now. In the dark, we're finished. Run!" the Doctor pointed but as soon as it did a large door behind closed up and blocked their only escape.

"This whole place is a death trap," Avalon breathed.

"No, it's a time bomb. Well, it's a death trap and a time bomb. And now it's a dead end. Nobody panic."

Avalon elbowed him on his side, "Shut up! Don't you ever try to make me feel better, got it? You're rubbish at it!"

"Duly noted," he frowned and rubbed the spot she'd elbowed him in. As the Angels tried coming in through the exterior door, he turned around, "What's through here?"

"Secondary flight deck," River answered.

"OK. so we've basically run up the inside of a chimney, yeah? So what if the gravity fails?" Amy felt the need to point that one crucial point to everyone.

River started working on bypassing the power as the Doctor mumbled his answer, "I've thought about that."

"And?" Amy raised an eyebrow.

"And we'll all plunge to our deaths. See. I've thought about it..."

Lena's mouth fell open, "Avalon's right, you shouldn't try to comfort people."

"Again, duley noted," he sighed and turned to River's work and helped, "The security protocols are still live. There's no way to override them, it's impossible."

"How impossible?" River asked.

"Two minutes."

The hum of the engines powered down and their way in had re-opened up, seeing the cavern outside.

"The hull is breached and the power's failing," Octavian said.

The lights went out and an arm of an Angel could be seen through the opening. One of the clerics gasped, "Sir! Incoming!"

"Doctor! Lights," Amy exclaimed.

The Doctor was using the sonic to help River when the lights returned for a brief period, allowing the group to see an Angel making its way inside. The lights went out again and returned in a much brighter state, also revealing for Angels inside the corridor now.

"Clerics, keep watching them," Octavian ordered.

"And don't look at their eyes. Anywhere else. Not the eyes," the Doctor added, "I've isolated the lighting grid. They can't drain the power now."

"Good work, Doctor," Octavian said.

"Yes. good. Good in many ways, good you like it so far..."

"So far?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, disliking that 'so far'.

"Well, there's only one way to open this door. I guess I'll need to route all the power in this section through the door control."

"And where's the problem?" she crossed her arms, just knowing there was a problem.

"That would include the lights. All of them. I'll need to turn out the lights."

"How long for?" Octavian questioned.

"Fraction of a second, maybe longer. Maybe quite a bit longer."

" _Maybe_?" Avalon shook her head, "That is _not_ reassuring! Not one bit!"

"I'm guessing," the Doctor felt like he should warn them, "We're being attacked by statues in a crashed ship, there isn't a manual for this!"

"Doctor, we lost the torches. We'll be in total darkness," Amy reminded.

"No other way," he sighed and looked at Octavian, "Bishop?"

"Dr Song, I've lost good Clerics today. You trust this man?" he sharply looked at River.

The woman, very secure, nodded, "I absolutely trust him."

"He's not some kind of madman then?"

River's eyes darted to the side for a brief second before she reiterated her response, "I absolutely trust him."

"Excuse me," the Doctor returned to his work on the door.

Discreetly, Octavian pulled River to the side and spoke in a low tone, "I'm taking your word, because you're the only one who can manage this guy at this point. But I suppose that only works so long as he doesn't know who you are. You cost me any more men, and I might just tell him. Understood?"

"Understood," River spat and pushed the man's hand off her shoulder.

"OK. Doctor, we've got your back," Octavian turned to the rest of the group.

"Bless you. Bishop," the Doctor casually said.

Octavian directed the clerics, "Combat distance, ten feet. As soon as the lights go down, continuous fire. Full spread over the hostiles. Do not stop firing while the lights are out. Shot gun protocol, we don't have bullets to waste."

"Amy, when the lights go down, the wheel should release. Spin it clockwise, four turns," the Doctor instructed her.

"Ten," the ginger nodded.

"No, four, four turns."

"Yea, four, I heard you," she took position at the door.

"Ready!" he placed the sonic into the circuit.

"On my count then. God be with us all. Three... two...one," Octavian said just as the lights went out, "Fire!"

The Doctor and Amy worked on the door while the twins and River stayed to the side. Avalon hugged Lena tightly as the brunette flinched at each bullet fired upon, plus she wasn't a very big fan of the dark.

"Turn!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"Doctor, quickly!" River urged.

"It's opening, it's working!" Amy said as the door began to open slowly.

"Get in!" River pushed Avalon in who then pushed Lena, "Go!"

"Fall back!" Octavian called to the clerics while Amy and River slipped through the opening.

The clerics moved through the doorway with the Doctor and Octavian behind. They moved down a similar corridor all the way to another door. The Doctor held open the door with his sonic as the others went through.

"Doctor, quickly," River called again.

The Doctor ran to join them, the door closing quickly behind him.

~ 0 ~

The flight deck was in utter chaos when the group entered. It had exposed wires nearly everywhere on the console, every furniture piece turned over. The Doctor hurried over to one of the controls. Behind the group, Octavian placed a device on the door, its hatch locked shut.

"What are you doing?" Avalon curiously asked him.

"Magnetized the door. Nothing could turn that wheel now."

"Mmm...that's not how the stories went," Lena nervously said as she looked at the door, its wheel beginning to turn again.

"Dear God!" Octavian gasped at the door.

"Now you're getting it," the Doctor called, "But you've bought us time, that's good. I am good with time."

"Doctor!" Amy exclaimed as another door wheel span.

"Seal that door. Seal it now!" Octavian ordered to the clerics.

"We're surrounded," River breathed, a third door beginning to spin open.

"Seal it, seal that door," Octavian ordered again, "Doctor, how long have we got?"

"Five minutes, max," he replied.

"Nine," Amy blurted.

The Doctor gave her a small glance, " _Five_ ," he repeated.

"Five, right yeah," the ginger casually said.

"Why d'you say nine?"

"I didn't."

"We need another way out of here," River reminded, pressing onto precious time. She didn't like it, she didn't like it one bit how they were surrounded again!

"There isn't one," Octavian said.

"Yeah, there is, course there is. This is a galaxy class ship, goes for years between planet-falls. So," the Doctor snapped his fingers, "What do they need?"

"Of course," River started feeling a little more relieved, the Doctor snapping his fingers again with a grin.

"Of course, what? What do they need?" Lena frowned.

"Can we get in there?" Octavian questioned the Doctor.

"Well, it's a sealed unit, but they must have installed it somehow. This whole wall should slide up," the Doctor pressed against the rear wall, "There's clamps. Release the clamps!" he used his sonic on the clamps.

"What's through there? What do they need?" Amy asked.

"They need to breathe," River pointed.

The door slowly rose up to reveal a near-like forest with vegetation and tress, all bright green!

"But that's... That's a..." Amy breathed.

"It's an oxygen factory," River told her.

"It's a forest," Lena said instead, quite in awe herself.

"Yeah, it's a forest, it's an oxygen factory," River smiled.

"And, if we're lucky, an escape route," the Doctor gestured.

"Eight," Amy said.

"What did you say?" River raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing."

"Is there another exit?" the Doctor questioned, unable to hear the ginger, "Scan the architecture, we don't have time to get lost in there."

"On it!" Octavian stepped into the forest, "Stay where you are until I've checked the Rad levels."

"But trees! On a space ship?" Amy blinked.

Avalon inched closer to the ledge, even taking in a breath to see if the air would smell fresh. "It's like a forest from the fairy tales."

"Oh, but these are more than trees, way better than trees," the Doctor walked past her into the forest, stopping by a tree. "You're going to love this."

"Oh I'm sure," Avalon crossed her arms, "Give me back my gun and we'll talk."

He rolled his eyes and pointed to the tree he stood by, "Treeborgs..." he opened up a section of the peat moss and revealed to the ginger a circuitry, "Trees plus technology. Branches become cables, become sensors on the hull. A forest sucking in starlight, breathing out air. It even rains. There's a whole mini-climate. It is an eco-pod running through the heart of the ship. A forest in a bottle, on a space ship, in a maze. Have I impressed you yet, Avalon Reynolds?"

A light smirk spread across her face. "Still trying to impress me? I must be a special girl, then." The Doctor matched her smirk.

Amy shook her head at them. "Seven."

"What?" Avalon looked at her.

"Seven?" the Doctor hurried back into the deck.

"Sorry, what?" Amy cluelessly looked between the two.

"You said seven," the Doctor studied her face.

"No. I didn't."

"Yes you did," Avalon nodded, "I heard you."

"Doctor! There's an exit, far end of the ship, into the Primary Flight Deck," Octavian returned.

"Good, that's where we need to go," he nodded, returning to the problem.

"Plotting a safe path."

The Doctor studied Amy a little more, "Quick as you like!"

"Doctor? Excuse me. Hello, Doctor? Angel Bob here, sir," the voice came through the radio again.

The Doctor moved over and sat down in a command chair, "Ah. there you are, Angel Bob. How's life? Sorry, bad subject."

"The Angels are wondering what you hope to achieve."

"Achieve? We're not achieving anything. We're just hanging. It's nice in here, consoles, comfy chairs, a forest. How's things with you?"

"The Angels are feasting, sir. Soon we will be able to absorb enough power to consume this vessel, this world, and all the stars and worlds beyond."

"Well, we've got comfy chairs, did I mention?"

"We have no need of comfy chairs."

"I made him say comfy chairs!" the Doctor looked at the others with a giddy smile.

Avalon shook her head while Lena and Amy laughed, though Amy uttering a word... "Six."

The Doctor stood quickly, "Okay, well, enough chat. Here's what I want to know: what have you done to Amy?"

"There is something in her eye," Angel Bob answered.

"What's in her eye?"

"We are."

"What's he talking about? Doctor, I'm five," Amy said but everyone just stared at her, "I mean, five. Fine! I'm fine."

"You're counting," River said to her.

"Counting?"

"You're counting down. From ten. You have been for a couple of minutes," the Doctor explained.

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"Well, counting down to what?"

"I don't know."

"Maybe you should ask?" Avalon tried, gesturing to the Doctor the radio he held.

"We shall take her. We shall take all of you," Angel Bob said, "We shall have dominion over all time and space."

"I had to suggest," Avalon mumbled.

"Get a life, Bob," the Doctor sat down and winced at his words, "Oops, sorry again. There's power on this ship, but nowhere near that much."

"With respect, sir, there is more power on this ship than you yet understand."

There was a loud, awful screeching in the air that made everyone jump.

"Dear God, what is it?" River made a face.

"They're back," Octavian said.

"It's hard to put in your terms, Dr Song, but as best I understand it, the Angels are laughing," Angel Bob answered.

"Laughing?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow.

"Because you haven't noticed yet. The Doctor in the TARDIS hasn't noticed."

"Doctor!" Octavian called.

The Doctor stood up, "No, wait, there's something...I've... " he slowly turned to see a glowing white crack high in the wall, "...missed," he ran back to the wall.

"That's... That's like the crack from my bedroom wall from when I was a little girl," Amy gasped.

"How is that possible?" Lena frowned, already stepping back. As a kid she felt terrified of that stupid

crack and it seemed like it hadn't changed one bit.

"OK, enough, we're moving out!" Octavian ordered.

"Agreed," River nodded, "Doctor?"

"Yeah. Fine!" the Doctor said but he used sonic on the crack.

"That doesn't look like leaving," Avalon remarked, "What are you doing?"

"Right with you," he waved her off.

"We're not leaving without you!"

"Oh yes you are. For once, listen to orders. Bishop?"

"Miss Reynold, Miss Pond, Dr. Song, now!" Octavian ordered and gestured to the forest.

"Doctor, come on!" Lena exclaimed.

But she was pulled away by River and so called onto Avalon's attention. She would never ever leave her sister again, the Doctor probably knew what he was doing...

"So, what are you?" the Doctor looked at the readings from the screwdriver, "Oh, that's bad. Ah, that's extremely very not good," he pressed his ear against the wall. When he turned around he came to the surprise of finding he was surrounded by Angels, "Do not blink," he said to himself and climbed over the console to get past them but was grabbed his jacket's collar.

~ 0 ~

Octavian and the clerics walked slowly through the forest, keeping the women safely in the center.

Suddenly, Amy began walking slower with a pale face, eventually noticed by River.

"Amy?" she moved to the ginger's side and gripped her arms, "Amy, what's wrong?"

~ 0 ~

The Doctor fidgeted under the grip of the Angels, "Why am I not dead then?" nervously, he turned and saw the Angels with their hands up to the crack like they were worshiping it, "Good, and not so good. Oh, this isn't even a little bit good. I mean, is that it? Is that the power that brought you here? That's pure time energy, you can't feed on that. That's the power, that's the fire at the end of the universe. I'll tell you something else..." there was a loud rumbling from somewhere, "Never let me talk!" and quickly, he ran into the forest, leaving his jacket behind.

~ 0 ~

"Amy, what's wrong?" Avalon frowned as the other ginger curled up on a mass-covered rock.

"Four."

"Med-scanner, now!" River called and was handed a device.

"Dr Song, we can't stay here, we've got to keep moving," Octavian walked back to them.

"We have to wait for the Doctor," Lena reminded.

"Miss Reynolds, our mission is to make this wreckage safe and neutralize the Angels. Until that is achieved..."

But River cut in as she worked on Amy, "Father Octavian, when the Doctor is in the room, your only mission is to keep him alive long enough to get everyone else home. And trust me. It's not easy. Not even with..." but she paused and shook her head, spoilers were a lot harder when there were two, "Now, if he's dead back there, I'll never forgive myself, she'll never forgive me and if he's alive, I'll never forgive him. And, Doctor, you're standing right behind me, aren't you?" she made a face and sighed.

"Oh, yeah," the man strolled in casually.

"I hate you," she turned around, frowning.

"You don't. Bishop, the Angels are in the forest," he went over to Amy's side.

"We need visual contact on every line of approach," Octavian said to the clerics.

"How did you get past them?" Avalon asked, knowing that was quite impossible to escape the angels.

"Found a crack in the wall and told them it was the end of the universe."

"And what is it in reality?"

"The end of the universe. Let's have a look then," he took the med-scanner from River and read them.

"So. what's wrong with me?" Amy whimpered.

"Nothing. you're fine," River tried assuring.

"Everything, you're dying," the Doctor blatantly declared.

"Doctor!" River frowned.

He only mocked-glared at her, "Yes, you're right, if we lie to her, she'll get all better!"

"He's right you know," Lena spoke up, "I don't like being lied to either when it comes to my health. It's better to know what you're facing then pretend like nothing's going on."

"So what's the matter with Amy?" Avalon crossed her arms, unable to hear her twin talk about her looming illness. She didn't like hearing about death at all. It reminded her of her mother and to even think of the possibility of losing her sister... _no_. That could not and would not happen. So, death conversations can go away and never emerge.

"Something's in her eye," the Doctor replied, "But what does that mean? Doesn't mean anything..."

"Doctor," Amy tried calling.

"Busy."

"Scared!"

"Course, you're dying, shut up!"

"Ever so gentle," Avalon remarked, "Just think already."

"What happened? She stared at the Angel, she looked into the eyes of an angel for too long..." he paused and thought some more.

"Sir! Angel, incoming!" a cleric called as an Angel appeared from the trees.

"And here," a second cleric added.

"Keep visual contact, do not let it move!" Octavian instructed.

The Doctor had started pacing and slapped the sides of his head while thinking, "Come on, come on, wakey, wakey! She watched an Angel climb out of the screen. She stared at the Angel and…and..."

"The image of an Angel is an Angel," Lena reminded, "That was it, right?" she looked at Avalon who nodded.

"It's a living image in a human mind," Avalon said.

"And we stare at them to stop them getting closer, we don't even blink and that's exactly what they want, cos as long as our eyes are open, they can climb inside. There's an Angel in her mind," he blinked and put his hand over his mouth as he thought of everything that could go wrong with that, well...everything that _is_ going wrong right now.

"Three. Doctor, it's coming. I can feel it. I'm going to die!" Amy cried.

"Please just shut up, I'm thinking. Now counting, what's that about?" he held the radio again and spoke into it, "Bob, why are they making her count?"

"To make her afraid, sir."

"OK. but why. what for?"

"For fun, sir."

In frustration, the Doctor threw away the radio. One of the clerics watched the Doctor and suddenly turned back to look at an Angel when he heard a branch cracking.

"Doctor, what's happening to me? Explain!" Amy demanded as best as she could.

"Inside your head, in the vision centers of your brain, there's an Angel," the Doctor sat down by Amy, " It's like there's a screen, a virtual screen inside your mind, and the Angel is climbing out of it, and it's coming to shut you off."

"Then what do I do?"

He stood up and though some more, "If it was a real screen, what would we do, we'd pull the plug. but we can't just knock her out, the Angel would take over!"

"Then what? Quickly!" River exclaimed as she read the scanner in her hands.

"We've got to shut down the vision centers of her brain. We've got to pull the plug, starve the Angel."

"Doctor, she's got seconds."

"How would you starve your lungs?"

"Stop breathing!" Lena exclaimed in a rush, ever-so-nervous of her ginger friend laid on a rock, "Stop breathing, Amy! Stop breathing!"

"No, don't do that," Avalon quickly covered her twin's mouth. Lena said the most oddest things when she was under pressure and this was one of those sentences she hoped no one would listen to, "Amy, close your eyes!"

"Doctor?" Amy asked, preferring him to tell her the correct order.

"No, she's right, close your eyes," he said.

"But I don't want to..."

"Good, because that's not you, that's the Angel inside you, it's afraid! Do it! Close your eyes!"

With hesitation, she still managed and closed her eyes. Suddenly, the scanner River held beeped and the readings returned to normal, "She's normalising," she breathed in relief and looked at Avalon, "You did it."

"Sir? Two more incoming," a cleric informed.

"Three more over here," the second said.

River put her away her scanner and looked at Amy, "Still weak, dangerous to move her."

Amy sat up on the rock, "So, can I open my eyes now?"

The Doctor bent down in front of Amy, "Amy, listen to me. If you open your eyes now for more than a second, you will die. The Angel is still inside you. We haven't stopped it, we've just sort of...paused it. You've used up your countdown. You cannot open your eyes."

"Doctor, we're too exposed here. We have to move on," Octavian urged.

He straightened up and faced Octavian, "We're exposed everywhere, and Amy can't move, and anyway, that's not the plan."

"There's a plan?" Lena asked, looking at River who sat down beside Amy.

"He's winging it," River informed.

"I don't know yet, I haven't finished talking now shush!" the Doctor exclaimed, "Right! Father, you and your Clerics will stay here, look after Amy. If anything happens to her, I'll hold each of you personally responsible, twice. River, you and me, we're going to find the Primary Flight Deck which is..." he licked his finger and held it up to test the air, "A quarter mile straight ahead. We'll stabilise the wreckage. stop the Angels, and cure Amy."

"How?" Avalon asked.

"I'll do a thing."

" _What_ thing?"

"I don't know, it's a thing in progress. Respect the thing-"

"You are a complete _child_!" she let out a breath in frustration and looked at River, "How do you be with that?" she gestured with her hands to the man.

"I'm not a ' _that'_ ," the Doctor frowned.

"Ewgh," River made a face, "Please don't ever say that again," she said to Avalon.

"Moving out!" Lena clapped her hands, attempting to avoid a three-way argument.

"Doctor, I'm coming with you," Octavian declared, "My Clerics can look after Miss Pond. These are my best men, they'd lay down their lives in her protection."

"I don't need you," the Doctor shook his head.

"I don't care. Where Dr Song goes, I go."

River stood up and walked over, sensing Octavian could say things that really should not be said.

"What?" the Doctor looked between the two, "You two engaged or something?"

"Yes, in a manner of speaking," Octavian nodded, "Marco, you're in charge till I get back," he started off with River.

"Doctor... Please, can't I come with you?" Amy asked.

"You'd slow us down, Miss Pond," Octavian answered.

"That was rude," Lena snapped, though not sounding a bit angry. She walked over to Amy and sat down beside her, "I'll stay with her."

"No you will not!" Avalon immediately shook her head and went for her twin.

"Yes, I am," the brunette shook Avalon's hand off her arm, "Doctor, will Amy be safer here?" he nodded quietly, "Will you be back for us?"

"Of course I will be," he nodded again.

"Don't let her do this!" Avalon faced him.

"It's her decision, I respect it."

"No! If she stays, I stay."

"No, Ava," River shook her head.

"Why not?"

"Because three people would be harder to protect, now you come with us."

"No! I'm not leaving my sister here!"

"We're running out of time!" Octavian snapped, frustrated with the ginger woman.

"Lena, let's go!" Avalon exclaimed.

But Lena shook her head, now even more sure that she should stay. This was what she really wanted to fix with her sister. Avalon always made it her job to look after Lena and Lena needed her to stop and focus on her instead. Avalon needed to learn that she was free to move about without worrying for Lena. She was her twin, not their mother.

"Ava, c'mon," River slowly tugged on Avalon's arm and brought her back.

"Lena..." Avalon whispered, her eyes already welling up with water.

Ever since the twins had reunited months back, they really had not separated except for sleep. Where one went, the other went. That's always how it went and now to be asked by Lena to forcefully leave her...it _hurt_. It was a feeling that had remained with her for the past two years of her life and one that she _never_ wanted to experience again. Losing their mother had caused a giant hole in her heart to remain, losing her twin would be the shatter of it completely.

"We'll come back," the Doctor assured the two remaining women on the rock.

"But you always say that," Amy frowned.

"I always come back," he looked at Avalon, dead serious, "I promise."

With a small sigh she shrugged and looked away.

"Now then, good luck everyone. Behave. Do not let that girl open her eyes," he pointed at Avalon, "And keep watching the forest. Stop those Angels advancing. Amy, later!" he tapped the ginger's head, "Baby sister, do keep out of trouble," he wagged her a finger like a responsible adult, "River, going to need your computer. And Avalon, please, please, please, please, _please_ , follow orders," he motioned for her to walk first.

She huffed and stormed off.

"You're from the future..." he said to River as they walked after, "...how exactly do you get that one-" he nodded after Avalon, "-happy again after her temper?"

River opened her mouth then shut it, smirking instead, "I don't know. That's _your_ secret, not mine," she walked ahead of him.

The Doctor stopped walking and blinked, his eyes slightly wide. He felt a small blush creep onto his neck and face. But upon hearing River's laughter from ahead he started grumbling and continued his walk.

That woman really was irritating.

~ 0 ~

"It's okay, Amy, I'm watching the Angels too," Lena said as she currently did that. She stood not far from Amy, carefully looking at their surroundings.

"Yeah, thanks..." Amy mumbled, fiddling with her fingers.

Suddenly, she felt a pair of hands take hers and give it a grip, making her gasp. Lena turned around immediately and saw the Doctor again, however he wore his jacket again, "What are you..." but he put a finger on his lips, "...how did you get that..." she motioned but he gave her that look that said 'quiet'.

"What's going on?" Amy frowned.

"Amy. you need to start trusting me, it's never been more important," the Doctor said to her.

"But you don't always tell me the truth."

"If I always told you the truth, I wouldn't need you to trust me."

"Doctor, the crack in my wall, how can it be here?"

"I don't know yet, but I'm working it out. Now, listen. Remember what I told you when you were seven?"

"What did you tell me?"

He rested his forehead against hers and sighed, "No, no... That's not the point. You have to remember," he kissed her on the head and was about to leave when he quickly returned to Lena. He paused and stared with what Lena considered a bittersweet look. "Lena..." his voice shook and suddenly Lena was pulled into a very tight hug.

"Remember what? Doctor? Doctor?" Amy asked but received no answer.

"You're confusing," Lena mumbled and he chuckled.

"Oh baby sister," he kissed her head and quickly hurried off.

Lena watched after him and couldn't help feel like that hug had been a bit too tight...like...those kind of hugs she got whenever their family out of town-well, out of the _planet_ \- gave her...a _goodbye_ hug...

~ 0 ~

Octavian led the small group through the forest while the Doctor checked something on River's device.

River, while curious of the Doctor's doings, moved slightly ahead to where Avalon walked alone, hugging herself. It reminded River far too much of Lena when she was afraid and for Avalon to openly show her fear...it was big.

"She'll be okay, you know," River said to the ginger, Avalon barely granting her a small glance, "Lena, she'll be just fine."

"Can you tell the future? What you haven't lived yet, I mean?"

"Not really, sorry."

"Then please refrain yourself from giving me hope. Hope is senseless, it doesn't help..." Avalon shook her head, "...it's never helped."

"Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love and something to hope for," the Doctor strolled up to the women, "Said by Joseph Addison."

"Since when do you do quotes?" Avalon raised an eyebrow.

"Since when do you not have hope?"

"Let's see, the only thing I hoped for backfired on me because my mother died and my sister could always follow in her pathway. Excuse me for not believing in hope," she shot the Doctor a small glare before moving ahead again.

"I almost forgot how unhappy she was in the beginning," River shook her head.

"There's a moment where she's not bitter and rude?" the Doctor tilted his head.

She smacked his arm and mock-glared, "Yes, because when you met Rose Tyler you were happy and dandy."

"How did you...?" he blinked as he rubbed his arm.

"Spoilers," she put a finger on her lips, "Ava!" she called but the ginger girl ignored and kept walking, "Ava!"

The device the Doctor held started beeping and so he checked out the results.

"What's that?" River gave up her hollering for a moment.

"Readings from a crack in a wall."

"How can a crack in the wall be the end of the universe?"

"Here's what I think. One day there'll be a very big bang, so big every moment in history - past and future - will crack."

"Is that possible? How?"

"How can you be engaged in a manner of speaking?" he countered, genuinely curious of the matter.

"Well...sucker for a man in uniform," she shrugged.

Octavian walked back to the two along with Avalon. "Dr. Song is in my personal custody. I released her from the Stormcage Containment Facility four days ago and I am legally responsible for her until she has accomplished her mission and earned her pardon. Just so we understand each other."

"You were in Stormcage?" Avalon's eyes half widen, "That's what my dad used to scare me with when I kept getting into trouble with the authorities on Earth."

"Hm, I bet he did," River mumbled and looked at the Doctor, "What was that?"

"The date! The date of the explosion where the crack begins."

"And for those of us who can't read the base code of the universe?"

The Doctor, stunned, looked up at Avalon, " _Your_ time."

~ 0 ~

Amy was sitting with her eyes closed, bored out of her mind even with her death looming over her head, "So, what's happening? Anything happening out there?"

"The Angels are still grouping," Marco answered. He saw one of the Angels reachiiinto a tree and pulled out the wires, making the lights flicker.

"What's going on?" Lena frowned.

"Are you getting this too?" Marco asked the other clerics.

"The trees? Yeah," one answered.

"What's wrong with the trees?" Amy questioned.

"Here too, sir. They're ripping the Treeborgs apart," another said.

"And here. They're taking out the lights."

"What is it? What's happening? Tell me. I can't see. Lena?" Amy felt for the girl's hand.

"It's okay, Amy," Lena patted the ginger's hand, though she looked around rather nervously, "Marco?"

"It's the trees, ma'am. The trees are going out."

The Angels used the flickering lights to advance on the group.

~ 0 ~

As the Doctor took readings from the handheld device, Octavian looked for a way in, River and Avalon standing guard.

"It doesn't open it from here, but it's the Primary Flight Deck," Octavian explained, "This has got to be a service hatch or something.

"Look, I don't mean to be rude," Avalon began but she really did not mind how she sounded. Her twin was out there, near an Angel and all she wanted to do is get the blasted escape open and run back for her sister.

"But can you just hurry up and open it? Time's running out."

"What? What did you say?" the Doctor turned to the ginger, "Time's running out, is that what you said?"

"Yeah, I just meant..."

"I know what you meant. hush! But what if it could?

"What if what could?" River raised an eyebrow.

"Time. What if time could run out?"

"Got it!" Octavian exclaimed.

~ 0 ~

"Angels advancing, sir," a cleric called from his spot.

"Over here, again," a second cleric said.

"Weapons primed. Combat distance five feet," Marco instructed, "Wait for it!"

"Amy," Lena said as the ginger stood up.

"No, what is it?" she demanded, "What's happening, just tell me!"

"Keep your position and, ma'am's, please stay back," Marco ordered as the Angels advanced, "Wait!" a bright light appeared and started spreading, calling Marco's attention to it, "Wait! The ship's not on fire. is it?"

The second cleric turned to the light, "It can't be. The compressors would have taken care of it," he turned around and came to a surprise, "Marco, the Angels have gone. Where'd they go?"

"That's not possible," Lena frowned and turned to each direction, "Why would they just... _leave_?"

"This side's clear too, sir," the third cleric added.

"The Angels have gone?" Amy asked.

"That's _not_ how the story goes," Lena shook her head, "Something's wrong, _really_ wrong."

Marco read from a handheld device, "There's still movement out there, but away from us now. It's like they're running."

"What do Angels runs from?" Amy gripped Lena's hand.

"Phillip, Crispin, need to get a closer look at that," Marco ordered the other two clerics.

"What are you all looking at? What's there?" Amy called.

"It's a light..." Lena tilted her head, faintly seeing the glows of a white light.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor was busy explaining to Avalon and River his theory, pacing here and there, "Cracks in time, time running out... No, couldn't be. How is a duck pond a duck pond if there aren't any ducks?" he stopped and looked at Avalon, even more curious, "You said that..." he quickly ran up to her, face-to-face as he studied her.

"What are you doing?" she stepped back, eyes blinking fast.

"And Amy didn't recognize the Daleks, nor Lena..." he took that one step closer to her again, even more suspicious, "...but _you_ do."

"I really don't," she shook her head and stepped away, "Just...tiny bits...not a lot, though."

The Doctor just looked at her again, suspiciously, which made Avalon fidget as if she was being questioned like a criminal. It were small things, really, but the smallest things always turned out to be the biggest. Why would neither Amy nor Lena remember things but Avalon would? Even if they were fragments it meant something was wired differently in Avalon's brain.

"Stop looking at me like that!" Avalon exclaimed, self-conscious under his scrutinizing stare.

The Doctor let it go for the moment and continued with his thought process. "Okay...so time can shift...time can _change_...time can be rewritten! Ah! Oh!"

~ 0 ~

"It's like, I don't know...a curtain of energy, sort of shifting. Makes you feel weird, sick," Marco explained as the group had moved closer to the light.

Lena stiffened now that she had a full view of the light, "Oh my god..." she breathed.

"What? What is it?" Amy turned to the girl, at least she hoped she was.

"It's...but...that _can't_ be," Lena took a step forwards, never letting go of Avalon's hand.

Amy turned again, nervously, to where she hoped the light was.

"What are you doing?" Marco asked.

"Point me at the light."

"Amy, you can't open your eyes," Lena reminded.

"Not for more than a second, that's what the Doctor said. Still got a bit of countdown left."

"But you can't!"

"Yes, I do. Cos it's...it feels weird, but it feels _familiar_."

"Oh Amy," Lena sighed and looked at the light.

"I need to see it. Am I looking the right way?" Amy asked, "I have to be quick."

Marco pointed her in the right way, "Very quick!"

"Okay..." she opened her eyes and gasped upon the sight, "It's the same shape! It's the crack in my wall."

"Close your eyes. Now!" Marco ordered.

"It's following us," Amy breathed, feeling Lena's hand grips hers this time.

"How can it be following us?" the brunette asked.

Amy fell to her knees and quickly Marco and Lena supported her. Lena quickly covered Amy's eyes and forced her to close them.

"Are you OK?" Lena asked her.

"Yea, but...it was the same shape!"

"I know, I remember exactly how that awful crack looked," Lena sighed.

"Marco, you want me to get a closer look at that?" the remaining cleric asked Marco.

"Go for it, don't get too close though," Marco nodded.

"No, you already sent two before," Lena reminded, "We're supposed to wait til they get back."

"What other two?" the man blinked at her, completely lost.

"The ones you sent before."

"I didn't send anyone before."

"You did. I heard you," Amy nodded in agreement with Lena, "Crispin and Phillip, you said."

"Crispin and _who_?"

~ 0 ~

"Dr Song, Miss Reynolds, get through, now," Octavian ushered River and Avalon through the latch, "Doctor?" he looked at the Doctor who was doing calculations in the air.

"Time can be _unwritten_."

~ 0 ~

"Lena, Amy, there was _never_ a Crispin or a Phillip on this mission," Marco reiterated for the millionth time to the women, "I promise."

"No, you're wrong," Lena frowned, "You sent Crispin and Phillip and then you sent Pedro but you can't even remember them."

"Something happened," Amy sighed.

"Pedro?" Marco was just catching up.

"Yeah, before you sent Pedro," Lena said.

"Who's Pedro?"

~ 0 ~

"It's been happening and I haven't even noticed!" the Doctor exclaimed, nearly smacking himself.

"Doctor, we've have to move," Octavian motioned, frustrated the man was merely rambling on to himself.

"The CyberKing! A giant cyberman walks over all of Victorian London and no-one remembers!" the Doctor continued.

"A giant what-now in Victorian London!?" Avalon was semi-following his words but he was rambling on like no one else was with him.

"We have to move it! The Angels could be here any second," Octavian set a hand on the Doctor's shoulder.

The Doctor shook his hand off and continued, "Never mind the Angels. There's worse here than Angels!"

Suddenly, the lights went out and the Doctor turned to see an Angel had Octavian by the neck.

"I beg to differ, sir," Octavian breathed.

He quickly used the screwdriver on the Angel, "Let him go!"

"Well, it can't let me go, sir, not while you're looking at it," Octavian pointed out.

"I can't stop looking at it, it'll kill you!"

"It'll kill me anyway. There's no way out of this. You have to leave me!"

"Can't you wriggle out?" the Doctor asked, looking over the position the man was in with the Angel for any means of escape.

"No. it's too tight. There's nothing you can do," Octavian shook his head.

~ 0 ~

"Marco, something's happened!" Lena cried, "Oh, if Avalon was here she'd be able to explain it to you."

"Lena you're doing just fine," Amy sighed, "Listen, Pedro was here a second ago and now you can't even remember him!"

"There never was a Pedro. There's only ever been the two of us here!" Marco exclaimed.

"No, there were five of us," Lena corrected, "Why can't you remember?"

"Listen, listen. I need to get a closer look at that light, whatever it is," Marco stepped for the light, "Don't worry, I won't get too close."

"No, you can't. You mustn't," Amy called.

"Here, spare communicator," Marco handed the device over to Lena, "I'll stay in touch the whole time."

"You won't. If you go back there what happened to the others will happen to you!" Amy said.

"There weren't any others!"

"Yes there were!" Lena nearly shouted, "And now there won't be any _you_ if you go over there!"

"Two minutes, I promise," Marco said and went off, leaving the two women alone.

~ 0 ~

"Sir, there's nothing you can do," Octavian sighed as the Doctor continued to search for an escape for him.

"You're dead if I leave you," he pointed out.

"Yes, yes, I'm dead. And before you go..."

"I'm not going!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"Listen to me. It's important! You can't trust her."

"Trust who?" the Doctor stopped and looked at Octavian.

"River Song. You think you know her, but you don't. You don't understand who or what she is."

"Then tell me."

"I've told you more than I should. Now, please, you have to go. It's your duty to your friends."

"Just tell me why she was in Stormcage?"

"She killed a man, a good man, a hero to many."

"Who?"

"You don't want to know, sir. You really don't," Octavian shook his head.

"Who did she kill?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow, stepping forwards.

"You don't want to know," Octavian repeated, "But you do want to know this: keep her away from Miss Reynolds."

"Why?" the Doctor narrowed his eyes, "Which one? There's two."

"Ginger."

" _Why_?"

"If you value Miss Reynolds' life you should keep her away from Dr. Song. Sir, the Angels are coming. You have to leave me."

The Doctor barely had time to keep up after what he'd heard. He shook his head and snapped back to the problem, "You'll die!"

"I will die in the knowledge that my courage did not desert me at the end. For that, I thank God and bless the path that takes you to safety."

"I wish I'd known you better."

"I think, sir, you know me at my best."

"Ready?"

Octavian closed his eyes, "Content."

The Doctor nodded and ran for the hatch...

~ 0 ~

"There's a teleport!" River exclaimed to Avalon just as the Doctor had entered, "If I can get it to work, we can beam the others here," she looked up at the Doctor to see him alone, "Where's Octavian?"

"Octavian's dead, so is that teleport," he walked over to them, "You're wasting your time. I'm going to need your communicator," he took her communicator from her.

~ 0 ~

"Marco? Are you still there? Marco?" Lena continuously spoke through the communicator.

"I'm here. I'm fine. I'm quite close to it now," Marco replied.

Amy felt for the communicator and pulled it to her mouth, "Then come back! Come back now, please."

"It's weird looking at it. It feels really..." but Marco's voice turned to static and no more response was given.

"It feels like what?" Lena pulled back the communicator, "Hello? Really what? Hello? Hello? Hello? Please say you're there. Hello? Hello!"

"Baby sister, is that you?" they heard the Doctor's voice instead.

"Doctor?" Amy pulled the communicator.

"Where are you? Are the Clerics with you?" the Doctor asked.

"They've gone. There was a light and they walked into the light," Lena said, "Doctor, they didn't even remember each other."

~ 0 ~

"No. They wouldn't," the Doctor mumbled.

"What is that light?" Avalon asked, pretty irritated that light was so important yet she understood nothing of it!"

"Time running out," he answered her then spoke back into the radio, "Amy, Lena, I'm so sorry. I should never have left you there."

"It's okay, it's an honest mistake," Lena replied, really not sounding the least bit angry, 'What do we do now?"

"You come to us. Primary Flight Deck, other end of the forest."

"But I can't see!" Amy exclaimed, "I can't open my eyes!"

"I can guide her...sort of..." Lena offered, "...but I don't know where to go. I'm not good with directions."

The Doctor used his screwdriver on the radio, making it whirr, "Turn on the spot."

"Sorry. what?"

"Just do it. Turn on the spot. When the communicator sounds like my screwdriver, you're facing the right way. Follow the sound."

~ 0 ~

Lena took Amy's hand and turned in a circle, intently listening to the whirring noise.

"You have to start moving now," the Doctor said, "There's time energy spilling out of that crack and you have to stay ahead of it."

"But the Angels, they're everywhere," Lena reminded, shuddering a breath just thinking of those awful creatures.

"I'm sorry, I really am, but the Angels can only kill you."

The two women started walking, Amy reaching for the communicator again, "What does the Time Energy do?"

"Just keep moving!"

"Tell us!"

~ 0 ~

"I'd like to know that too," Avalon crossed her arms, "My sister is down there, you know? The one you promised to return to me. What's it do?" she demanded.

The Doctor gave a small sigh, there really was no escape from two demanding gingers, "If the Time Energy catches up with you, you'll never have been born. It will erase every moment of your existence. You will never have lived at all. Now, keep your eyes shut and keep moving!"

"It's never going to work," River passively remarked.

"What else have you got?" he suddenly shouted, making her flinch, "River, tell me!"

"Don't yell at her," Avalon snapped, "It's not her fault!"

A loud whooshing cut off the potential argument followed by a loud clanging noise.

"What's that?" River looked around.

"The Angels running from the fire," the Doctor answered, his eyes lingering on Avalon as he recalled Octavian's words. If it was true, if River truly did endanger Avalon's life...she really shouldn't be defending her. Then again to her, he was the one being rude.

"Well, what are they doing?" she broke his thoughts by looking at him.

"They came here to feed on the time energy. Now it's going to feed on them."

"Then get my twin and friend here already!"

"Lena, listen to me," he spoke back into the radio, "I'm sending a bit of software to your communicator. It's a proximity detector. It'll beep if there's something in your way. You just manoeuvre till the beeping stops. Because, Lena, Amy, this is important. The forest is full of Angels."

"You're not making this easy on me," Lena's shaky voice responded, "I'm not brave, remember?"

"Oh but you are, baby sister. You've just yet to realize. Now then, Amy's going to pretend she can see while walking..."

"What do you mean?" Amy asked.

"Look, just keep moving," he reiterated.

"That time energy, what's it going to do?" River questioned him.

"Er, keep eating..."

"And how do we stop it?" Avalon raised an eyebrow.

"Feed it."

"Feed it what?"

"A big complicated space-time event should shut it up for a while."

"Great, does anyone have one lying around?" Avalon sarcastically put her hands on her hips and shrugged, "Cos I seem to be missing one."

"I don't need your sarcasm!" the Doctor shouted at her.

"Well I need my sister here!" she yelled right back, "I already lost her once and I'm not going for a second, do you understand me!?"

~ 0 ~

A high pitched beeping echoed through the flight deck, even making Amy and Lena stop for a moment.

"What's that?" Lena, with a trembling arm, lifted her radio to her mouth.

"It's a warning. There are Angels 'round you now," the Doctor replied.

The lights flashed and suddenly Lena found her and Amy surrounded by the Angels, "Oh this is just dandy..." she breathed.

"Listen to me. This is going to be hard but I know...you can do it. The Angels are scared and running and right now they're not that interested in you."

"But I _am_ scared, more like horrified actually," Lena swallowed and gripped Amy's hand.

"Yes, and my state isn't really helping us," Amy added with a frown.

"Amy, they'll assume you can see them and their instincts will kick in. All you've got to do is walk like you can see," the Doctor repeated, "Just don't open your eyes. Walk like you can see. You're not moving. You have to do this."

"Should be easy enough..." Amy mumbled.

"Amy, I'm so sorry you're stuck with me," Lena shuddered a breath as she saw the Angels.

"Don't be sorry, we're a team. A really good team," Amy nodded.

"No, I'm nothing. I can't do anything, I've got no skills, no brains, no nothing. Anyone would be better suited for this situation than me."

"Lena don't talk like that," the Doctor scolded, "I had a friend once, and she used to think like you. She didn't go further after high school and you know what she did?"

"What?"

"She became the defender of the Earth. So now _you_ , baby sister, you are going to straighten up and walk like you own that place, do you understand me? You are going to take Amy and walk, now do it!"

Lena looked at Amy and slowly started to walk, one hand in hers and the other holding the communicator, "Okay...we're walking..."

Amy raised her head as if she was seeing and walked with confidence as the Doctor had suggested. She swallowed hard as her foot stepped over a small bump on the ground that shook her. But, she kept going.

"We're good, we're good," she whispered to the fearful brunette.

She knew this was an important moment for Lena. All her life the brunette had been protected by her parents then Avalon. She's never actually had to do anything for protection because someone else always did it for her. Now that she was living this moment, she realized that what Lena wanted actually made sense. Avalon was not their mother, she wouldn't always be there for and so Lena had to learn how to go through life's hardships on her own, not always depending on someone else. And right now, she would encourage the girl to keep going because this was the beginning of her journey.

"Amy..." Lena began but Amy shook her head.

"Nope, you've got this. We've got this. We've got this."

Lena nodded and took a long breath, careful to keep Amy from tripping over any roots. Suddenly, there was a bright light that engulfed the two, making Lena scream for dear life.

~ 0 ~

"It's okay, it's okay, it's okay!" River quickly exclaimed as she helped the two girls, "It's me, it's River. Amy, don't open your eyes. You're on the Flight Deck, the Doctor's here. I teleported you," she shot the Doctor a look, "See? I told you I could get it working."

"River Song, I could bloody kiss you," the Doctor laughed.

She crinkled her face, "Don't ever say that again," she shuddered a breath.

"Lena!" Avalon rushed to hug her twin tightly, "Oh thank god!"

"I did it, Avalon! I did something on my own!" Lena cried actual tears, of joy.

"Yes, yes, yes, you're here now," Avalon sighed of pure relief.

Suddenly, an alarm began blaring and made everyone look around, "What's that?"

"The Angels are draining the last of the ship's power, which means..." the Doctor paused in realization, "The shield's going to release!"

The shield to the forest opened up and the group was confronted by a large number of Angels. The Doctor stepped forwards with narrowed eyes, "Angel Bob, I presume."

"The Time Field is coming. It will destroy our reality."

"Yeah, and look at you, all running away. What can I do for you?"

"There is a rupture in time. The Angels calculate that if you throw yourself into it, it will close and they will be saved."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Could do, could do that," the Doctor swayed his head, "But why?"

"Your friends would also be saved."

"Well, there is that..."

River stepped up to the Doctor, "I've traveled in time. I'm a complicated space/time event, too. Throw me in."

"Oh, be serious! Compared to me, these Angels are more complicated than you and it would take every one of them to amount to me, so get a grip."

"Doctor, I can't let you do this," River shook her head.

"No, seriously, get a grip."

"You're not going to die here! There's a lot more you have to do for me!"

"No, I mean it. River, Amy, twins, get a grip!" the Doctor exclaimed.

River blinked in realization, "Oh, you genius!" she hurried back to Amy and the twins.

"Sir, the Angels need you to sacrifice yourself now," Angel Bob reminded.

"Thing is, Bob, the Angels are draining all the power from this ship, every last bit of it. And you know what? I think they've forgotten where they're standing. I think they've forgotten the gravity of the situation. Or to put it another way, Angels..."

"You hold on tight and don't you let go for anything," River said to the women and placed Amy's hands on a handle attached to the panelas an example, the twins quickly following.

"Night-night," the Doctor smiled.

The gravity failed with the loss of power just as the Doctor casually gripped a handle like nothing. The deck turned to its side and so the group held on as the Angels were sucked into the crack. There was a burst of light and the crack closed shut.

~ 0 ~

Amy and Lena sat on a rock, both bundled up in blankets, and quietly conversed when the Doctor walked over to them with a cleric behind.

"We're bruised everywhere," Lena complained the moment he had joined them.

"Me too," he shared.

"Yeah but it's not fair, you two are going to heal quicker. You're forgetting my immune system isn't as qualified."

"I keep forgetting you're from the future," Amy countered.

"It'll take some getting use to," Lena shrugged.

"Did you know?" Amy looked at the Doctor who simply nodded, "And you didn't say?"

"It wasn't my story to say," he shrugged.

"But you never keep your mouth shut!"

"My baby sister asked me to keep quiet, so I did."

"Oh, you can do that?" Amy looked at Lena with a sarcastic gasp.

The Doctor did a mock laugh and frowned, "You're so funny."

"Hey, I nearly died," Amy reminded, "I had an Angel in my _eyes_!"

"Yes, and I keep telling you it fell into the time field so it never actually existed in your head."

"Still scared me though..." she mumbled and played with her shoe in the sand.

"But Doctor, how did we remember everything?" Lena curiously asked, "I mean, the clerics couldn't remember each other. But Amy and I did..."

"You're time travelers now. Changes the way you see the universe forever. Good, isn't it?"

Lena smiled and nodded, although Amy wasn't very convinced as she remembered what had caused the amnesia, "And the crack. Is that gone too?" she asked.

"Yeah, for now. But the explosion that caused it is still happening... somewhere out there, somewhere in time..." the Doctor looked out at the ocean, happening to see Avalon coming out of the TARDIS, clutching that journal of hers, "...Lena, you're sister...she seems..."

"She doesn't like beaches," Lena and Amy informed together.

"She what?" he nearly laughed, who didn't like beaches!?

"She stopped liking them years ago," Lena shrugged.

He nodded and accepted it, leaving the two and heading over to River who stood with her hands encased in handcuffs.

"You have wandering eyes, Doctor," River called with a sneaky laughter, "Who are you looking at? Let's see..." she ignored the sharp look she received from him and continued, "...uh, there's the girl with the crack in her bedroom wall," she nodded to Amy, "The, um, baby sister," she nodded to Lena, "Or...the girl who seems to remember what no one else can."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he looked to the side.

"Don't play stupid with me, Doctor. You're intrigued by Avalon. She remembers, bits and pieces, but she remembers things she shouldn't."

"How do you know about that?"

"Spoilers," she smirked then looked up at the sky. "The prison ship's in orbit. They'll beam me up in a couple of minutes," she shrugged, her gaze wandering ahead, "I might have done enough to earn a pardon this time. We'll see."

"Octavian said you killed a man," he informed her, "...he also said you'd endanger Avalon's life. Care to enlighten me?"

"First, yes, I did kill a man. Second, no, I would never endanger her life."

"Who did you kill?" he raised an eyebrow.

"It's a long story, Doctor, can't be told. It has to be lived. No sneak previews. Well, except for this one: you'll see me again quite soon, when the Pandorica opens."

He nearly laughed again, "The Pandorica? Ha!" he leaned down and whispered into her ear, "That's a fairy tale."

"Yes, and I do seem to recall that being a certain nickname someone appropriated on you...seems fitting doesn't it?" she raised an eyebrow, a hint of a smirk.

"Oh don't start," he rolled his eyes.

"Excuse me," she started walking towards the beach.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" he demanded, the woman was literally in hand cuffs and she was trying to _escape_?

"Have you noticed where one of your companions are?" she nodded ahead to Avalon who stood beside the TARDIS, her back to them as she faced the beach.

"She doesn't like beaches," he shrugged.

"Yeah, and do you know why?" she raised an eyebrow, but he merely shrugged. She shook her head, "Her _mother_ ," was all she had to say before going towards the ginger.

Confused, and yet curious, he went ahead and followed after her. As they reached the ginger woman, they heard her quiet, little sobs coming from her.

"Hey, you alright?" River cautiously asked once she stopped beside the ginger.

"Yeah," Avalon quickly tried to avoid showing her face and looked to the side where the box was.

"Don't lie," River lightly scolded.

"What's wrong?" the Doctor asked her as well.

"I don't need people worrying about me," Avalon rubbed her face clean, though her eyes remained watery, "I'm fine. I'm always fine."

"Oh don't start with that," River shook her face, "I know the problem with the beach, Ava. There's no point in lying."

"I don't know," the Doctor raised a hand, "Mind explaining?"

"It's quite simple," River began when her cuffs beeped, "Damn. That's my ride."

Avalon studied the strange woman for a minute, "Why are you in jail?"

River half-smiled, "Events, my dear. Events that I would not change."

"That doesn't make sense," Avalon said slowly, but River just smiled. Before Avalon could say something more, River was teleported away. "Why is she in jail?" Avalon quickly asked the Doctor.

"Why don't you like beaches?" he challenged.

"An answer for an answer?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Fraid so," he shrugged, "Ladies first."

Avalon looked down at her journal she still clutched in her arms and sighed, "I don't know how to swim," she began, "I've wanted to learn ever since my parents took my family and I to this amazing beach for my fifteenth birthday. My mum, she was an amazing swimmer. She said her mother had taught her and that the next year, for my 16th birthday she'd teach me how to swim in the beach she was taught in..." she shuddered a breath as she felt the water spur in her eyes, "...she died that year."

"And so you don't like the beach because it reminds you of her," the Doctor finished her story, "Your mother."

"I tried to learn how to swim with a different person, Amy's aunt actually..." she shook her head, "...but it felt wrong. It feels like I'm replacing my mum and that is something I will never do. I prefer staying away from beaches, they're bad places."

"They're really not, you know. Have you heard of Space Florida?"

She shrugged, "A bit. But I'm not interested."

"Are you really?" he turned to face her, studying her intently, "Or are you just hiding what you actually feel or want?"

"This conversation had dreadfully turned irrelevant," she turned to him, a blank face, "Let's talk about the gun you owe me, instead."

"Come again?" he blinked.

"You took my gun and then you put it back into your jacket's pocket...and you're jacket is..." she pretended to look around, "...look at that, _gone_."

"Oops?"

"You did that on purpose," she accused with a finger.

"I was being held by Weeping Angels, thank you very much!"

"How am I going to get a new one!?"

"You're not!"

"Oh yes I am," she started turning away. "And you're going to pay for one!"

"As if!" he scoffed and followed her.

She moved to the front of the TARDIS where the doors were and abruptly turned to face him, making him bump into her. While the two ended up slightly too close, neither uttered a word about it.

"You've got a lot nerve you know that?" Avalon asked.

"I prefer to call it 'bravery'," the Doctor smirked.

"Naaah," Avalon laughed at him and entered the TARDIS.

From afar, Amy shot right out of her seat on the rock with a small frown. Lena stood up as well, tugging her blanket closer to herself, "You okay, Amy?"

"Yeah..." the ginger gritted her teeth.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor and Amy sat in Amy's room, on the side of her bed...staring at Amy's wedding gown. Amy had finally told him she was getting married...she honestly didn't know how she did it.

"Well!" the Doctor blinked.

"Yeah..." Amy bit her lip nervously.

"Blimey!"

"I know. This is the same night we left, yeah?"

The Doctor checked his watch and nodded, "We've been gone five minutes."

Amy leaned over and picked up her ring box then opened it to show the Doctor, "I'm getting married in the morning. Everything's all set now," she bitterly laughed, "Avalon's my maid of honor."

"And neither of you said?" he raised an eyebrow. Amy just shrugged and let him take the box, "Why did you leave it here?"

"Why did I leave my engagement ring when I ran away with a strange man the night before my wedding?"

"Yeah."

"You really are an alien, aren't you?" Amy laughed.

"Who's the lucky fella?"

"You met him."

"Ah, the good looking one or the other one?" the Doctor mimed a large nose which made Amy laugh again.

"The other one."

"Well, he was good too," he nodded.

"Thanks. So, do you comfort a lot of people on the night before their wedding?" she discreetly scooted closer to him.

"Why would you need comforting?"

"I nearly died. I was in the dark and I nearly died. And it made me think."

"Well, yes, natural. I think sometimes. Well, lots of times..."

"About what I want. About who I want," she eyed him sharply so he'd understand, "You know what I mean?"

"Yeah..." he nodded for the first couple of seconds then shook his head, "...no, I don't."

"About who...I want," she tried again.

"Oh, right, yeah... No, still not getting it. "

Amy playfully rolled her eyes, "Doctor, in a word, in one very simple word even you can understand..." she practically climbed over the man.

Nervously, the Doctor pushed her away and clambered over the foot rail, "Um, no! You're getting married in the morning!"

Amy stood up and sauntered over to him, quite flirty, "The morning's a long time away," she pushed him back against the TARDIS, "What are we going to do about that?" she started to undress him.

"For starters, we could maybe, perhaps, call tot he twins!" the Doctor looked back at the doors behind him, really considering calling for one of them.

"Avalon's in the shower, Lena's off for a needed nap. Worked out quite well, don't yah think?"

He quickly pulled his braces back up, "Listen to me. I'm 907 years old. Do you understand what that means?" he pushed her away.

"It's been awhile?"

"No. no. no! I'm 907, and look at me. I don't get older, I just change. You get older. I don't, and this can't ever work," he kept her away with his hands on her shoulders, for as much as he could.

"Oh please, I see you don't really care about that with Avalon!"

"What!? She's got nothing-"

Amy had already started to kiss him for a second or two and was pushed away, "Oh c'mon, it's nothing long term if that's what you're worried over."

"But you're human! You're Amy! You're getting married in the morning..." he blinked, "...in the morning."

"Doctor?" Amy frowned, slightly confused.

"It's you. It's all about you. Everything. It's about you."

Thinking something completely different, Amy hurried over to her bed and laid seductively, "Hold that thought!"

"Not the twins, but Amy Pond... Mad, impossible Amy Pond. I don't know why, I have no idea, but quite possibly the single most important thing in the history of the universe is that I get you sorted out right now.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you!"

He yanked her off the bed, "Come on!"

"Doctor!" the ginger flirty exclaimed as she was pushed inside the TARDIS, the Doctor swatting her away with his hands.

Behind them, the clock on the bed-stand to 12:00 6/26...

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Oh that Amy Pond...and the Angels...and River...oh Jesus ;)

Next chapter we get Mr. Rory Williams whom I love and wanna protect from everything that's coming! .

 **For the Review:**

 **lautaro94** : Okay I reread that part and I totally see what you meant so I went back and changed it! Thanks for pointing it out! :)


	6. Vampires of Venice

Rory Williams was at his stag night, trying to leave a very lovely message for his fiancee while blocking out the heavy noise of the room. "Hey...! It's me! Hello! How are you? The reason for this call is because I haven't told you for seven hours that I love you, which is a scandal, and even if we weren't getting married tomorrow, I'd ask you to marry me anyway. Yes, I would, because you are _smashing_."

Behind him, a large cake was being wheeled while a rather interesting song played, named 'The Stripper', in the background. One of his friends tapped him on the back, making him turn to see the cake.

"Oh... Oh. Oh, blimey. I've... I've... I-I-I... I'll see you tomorrow," Rory quickly hung up and turned to the cake.

"Out! Out! Out!" everyone began shouting and even clapping.

And out popped a head from the cake alright...with some very _ginger_ hair...

Rory's mouth half-opened when he saw Avalon inside the cake. The woman was trying not to look as pleased as she was. "Okay, that was really cool," she admitted. "Can cross this off my bucket list."

"What are you..." Rory pointed, "... _how_ did you...I thought...you were on a date!"

"Big things have happened Rory," Avalon declared in an irritated expression when she remembered the reason she'd gotten into this mess in the first place. "Someone help me out!" she shouted and quickly two of Rory's friends came up and pulled her out of the cake. "Thank you," she waved them off and met Rory in a quick rush.

"What are you doing here? _How_ did you even get inside the cake?"

"Took all the money in my bag," Avalon nodded. "I mean, it was fair since Lucy did deserve to get paid either way."

"But _why_ -"

"We have a problem Rory," Avalon covered his mouth with her hand, "And no, I didn't do anything wrong this time. I know you blew your money on me from the last time..." she looked to the side in guilt.

"You and Mels promised me you'd stay out of trouble," Rory pushed her hand away, "Where's she?"

"I haven't done anything this time!" Avalon exclaimed as the doors were heard opening, "Oh, you made it? You didn't stay behind kissing Lucy?" she glared at the Doctor who slowly walked to them.

"What are you doing here?" the Doctor whisper-demanded from Avalon.

"Talking to my brother, thank you very much," she snapped.

"What's he doing here?" Rory pointed at him.

"Well, Doctor?" Avalon crossed her arms, "Care to take that one?"

"I cannot believe you took the cake job," the alien said instead, "That was _mine_."

"Did I upset you?" she asked innocently.

"Yes!"

"Good," she spat.

To say she angry was an understatement. She was _fuming_! She and Lena had been told, by the Doctor himself, of what had happened with Amy and while Lena was shocked...Avalon had just slapped the Doctor straight across the face...twice.

Rory was like her brother and she loved him very much (platonically of course). She knew that Rory would never hurt someone even if he was furious; it just wasn't him. But _she_ could and she would, and she _did_. She was furious at Amy for what the woman had done to her _fiancee_ , a man who earnestly loved her to bits and pieces. She couldn't even look at Amy and yet Amy seemed upset with _her_. Amy had the audacity to be angry with her and that only served to agitate Avalon. Avalon was in the middle of debating how she'd make it another hour without killing Amy or the Doctor.

"Uh, hello?" Rory waved a hand, reminding them of his presence, "Explanation?"

"Right, Rory, we need to talk about your fiancee," the Doctor began, ignoring the scoff Avalon gave, "She tried to kiss me," everyone gasped, "Tell you what, though. You're a lucky man - she's a great kisser," someone dropped their glass and everyone stared at the Doctor. The Doctor, upon learning his newest mistake, scrunched his face, "I have another one coming, don't I?"

"Oh yes," Avalon stepped up.

Rory opened his mouth to ask what was going on, "Um, excuse me, what exactly..."

But Avalon slapped the Doctor again, making him flinch.

The Doctor rubbed his newest red spot on his face and moved his jaw to wear out the pain, "You are freakishly strong, do you know that?" he looked at the ginger.

She shrugged, "Comes in handy."

"So, um...TARDIS?" he motioned the door to her and Rory.

"Oh we will," Avalon took Rory's hand and marched off with him, ignoring Rory's mumbles of questions.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor sat in a harness seat underneath the TARDIS, 'fixing' parts of the poor ole box. Up above was Amy pacing about nervously, biting a few of her nails while Rory stood beside the console with his eyes scanning every last part of the box.

"Oh! The life out there, it dazzles. I mean, it blinds you to the things that are important. I've seen it devour relationships and plans..." the Doctor was saying, giving occasional glances above through the glass floor. Rory flinched at the sound of a small explosion underneath and looked below to the Doctor, "Ohhh! It's meant to do that! Because for one person to have seen all that, to taste the glory and then go back, it _will_ tear you apart. So...I'm sending you somewhere. Together."

"Whoa! What, like a date?" Amy had stopped pacing.

"Lena chose a wonderful place for you two, actually," the Doctor shot out of the seat and rushed up to the console, "It's very nice, amazing, and romantic," he grinned, "My baby sister's a genius."

"Woah, hold on, did he just say _Lena_?" Rory looked between the two.

"Oh that's right, he doesn't know..." Amy made a face.

"Know what? What else is there now?" he raised an eyebrow. Not only did he just discover his fiancee and best friend were time travelers, his fiancee had kissed another man, an _alien_ , but now they were speaking about Lena as if she was...she was...

"I'm ready!" Lena dashed out of the corridors in a 16th century pink dress, "How do I look?" she a gave a big spin for them to see.

"Wonderful!" the Doctor praised and she rushed to give him a hug.

"I love, love, love, _love_ your wardrobe," she beamed as she stepped back, "Endless options to wear!"

"Lena? _Lena_?" Rory's mouth fell open.

Lena gasped as she saw Rory, "Oh! Hi Rory!" she quickly gave him a hug, "Oh it's been so long, I missed you!"

"But...b-b-but, you're...you're not..." Rory sputtered as he hugged back the woman, "...how are you...the police..."

"Time travel," Lena chuckled as she stepped back, "Little mix up. See, after the Doctor saved us from that whole Prisoner Zero thing, he took me into the TARDIS for a quick jump start...only our two hours was two years for you guys. For me, it's really only been a couple months since I've last seen you or the planet Earth."

"So all this time, you've been _here_?"

She nodded, "Aha."

"Your family has been going crazy over your disappearance! Avalon quit her job to search for you..."

Lena nodded silently, her eyes looking down as she recalled all the doings her twin had done to search for her, "I know. And I'm so sorry for that. I never meant to make anyone worry, much less lose their jobs."

"It's okay, cos you're here and you're alive," Rory half-smiled and went ahead and hugged her again, "Avalon must have been so happy to see you again."

"Mhm, she wouldn't let go of me."

"Speaking of, where's the feisty Ava?" he pulled away and searched for the missing ginger.

"I chose a dress for her," Lena giggled at her doings.

"Oh that's a sight I have to see," Rory laughed.

"Avalon!" Lena called.

"Come on out, Ava!"

Amy looked to the side in irritation. They had been talking about a date and now suddenly here goes her date talking about Avalon...

"I'm not doing it," Avalon emerged from the corridors with her arms crossed.

She was wearing, to Lena's and Rory's dismay, her modern-day clothes. She wore a light brown dress that reached above her knees with brown boots to match. She wore a dark blue, long-sleeved, jean jacket with a thick hot pink scarf around her neck, both parts dangling down her chest. Her ginger locks fell freely down.

"Aww..." Lena pouted, "It was a nice dress!"

"Sorry, Lena. I'm not in the mood for it," Avalon looked at Amy and the Doctor with glare.

"Did I mention we're going to Venice?" the Doctor tried, trying not to fidget under the woman's glare. He really disliked the cold look in her eyes that he knew were meant for him...

"Oh that's lovely," she put on a sarcastic smile, "You planning on kissing anyone there?"

"It's a date for Rory and Amy," Lena clarified, moving beside the Doctor, "And you're being rude again."

"Excuse me for being upset my best friend was cheated on," Avalon moved beside Rory.

"It's okay, Ava," Rory assured her, even though it kind of _wasn't_.

"No, it's not. And I know you won't say anything so _I_ will. I'm your voice."

"Thank you, but it's okay..." he looked over at Amy and half-smiled, "So...a date?"

"I'm kind of done with running down corridors," she nodded and moved closer to him, pulling him away from Avalon ever-so-discreetly.

"Venice, here we come!" Lena cheered.

~ 0 ~

The TARDIS materialized in the middle of a busy market place, no one taking notice of people piling out of a small box.

The Doctor came out first with his arms open to the city, " Venice! Venezia! La Serenissima! Impossible city. Preposterous city! Founded by refugees running from Attila the Hun. It was just a collection of little wooden huts in the marsh, but became one of the most powerful cities in the world. Constantly being invaded, constantly flooding... constantly... Just beautiful! Oh, you gotta love Venice. And so many people did. Byron, Napoleon, Casanova. Oooh, that reminds me," he checked his watch in concern, "1580. That's all right. Casanova doesn't get born for 145 years. Don't want to run into him. I owe him a chicken."

"You owe Casanova a chicken?" Rory raised an eyebrow.

"Long story. We had a bet."

"This is Venice?" Lena gasped as she looked around, "Oh m god, it's beautiful!"

"Glad you like it, baby sister," the Doctor tapped her head. He looked back and saw Avalon barely coming out of the box, cautiously closing the doors and moving slowly around, "And you, Avalon? Impressed?"

She looked at him for a minute then turned to the side, "Hm."

"Bad temper," Lena whispered in reminder.

"I've noticed," he patted on his cheeks which were still sore.

Suddenly, an official dressed in black stepped in front of Avalon, making the ginger stumble back in surprise, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Papers, if you please. Proof of residency, current bill of medical inspection."

Avalon blinked rapidly, still a bit surprised, "Oh...um..."

"Watch me go and save your bad-tempered sis," the Doctor smirked and headed off, Lena giggling to herself and shaking her head, "There you go fella," he held up his psychic paper for the official. The man took the paper and read it, "All to your satisfaction, I think you'll find."

Avalon, in amusement, smiled as the official deeply bowed, "I am so sorry, Your Holiness. I didn't realise."

"Holiness?" Avalon repeated, swaying her head as she considered the idea.

The Doctor took back the paper, "No worries. You were just doing your job. Sorry, what exactly is your job?"

"Checking for aliens, visitors from foreign lands what might bring the plague with them."

"Oh, that's nice," Amy shook her head, "Lena, you brought us to the _plague_?"

Lena raised her hands in surrender, "Oi, I gave the location, the Doctor chose the time."

"Don't worry, Viscountess," the official said to Amy. The ginger nearly nodded, taking the role, while Rory stood beside her, looking between the man and her in shock and confusion, "No, we're under quarantine here, no-one comes in, no-one goes out, and all because of the grace and wisdom of our patron, Signora Rosanna Calvierri," the official pointed to a crest on a box he carried.

"Hold on, the plagued died out years ago," the Doctor remarked.

"Not out there. No, Signora Calvierri has seen it with her own eyes. Streets are piled high with bodies, she said."

"Did she, now? Ever picked up a history book?"

Rory reached for the psychic paper from the Doctor while the official moved on to someone else.

"By the way, I didn't need your help," Avalon informed the Doctor before heading off.

"A simple thank you would've been nice," the Doctor mumbled as he followed after her, consequently making the rest follow.

"Or a slap!" she called and he immediately froze and let her go on a bit farther.

Lena laughed and took his hand, "It's okay, she probably won't do it anymore."

" _Probably_?" he shot her a concerned look, his free hand going up to his face.

"Wouldn't count on it," Rory moved ahead, walking backwards with Amy beside him, "She once beat up a boy for an entire week because he put play-dough in her hair."

"Oh, yeah," Amy sucked in breath through her teeth at the reminder, "Poor Mark. I liked Mark."

~ 0 ~

Two lines of young women dressed in white gowns of different designs stepped onto the cobblestone ground outside the Calvierri school. An older woman, Rosanna, walked to the head of the procession, "Veils down, girls," she ordered.

The girls lowered their veils and started walking, everyone else stopping to watch them. The group stopped across the canal and also watched.

A man, Guido, ran up to the line and started lifting each girl's veil.

"What do you want?" Rosanna demanded.

"Where's my Isabella?"

"What are you doing? Get away from there," Rosanna tried shooing him off.

"Isabella! Isabella!" he finally lifted the veil off the correct girl, his daughter, but

she backed away at the sunlight, "It's me!"

One of the other girls came forwards with a hiss and showed off her mouth of two rows of fangs. Guido fell to the ground in shock as the girls re-took their positions.

"Girls, come along!" Rosanna ordered again, everything continuing like nothing.

A younger man, Francesco, pressed his boot on Guido's chest, keeping him down as the girls left, "She's gone," he informed Guido and left with a swirl of his cloak.

"Isabella! It's me!" the man cried out as two guards lifted him from the ground and dragged him away.

"What was that about?" Amy frowned as the spectacle finish.

"He's gone, Amy," Lena informed with a small sigh.

"I hate it when he does that!" Amy shook her head.

~ 0 ~

As Guii walked along a passageway, the Doctor crossed behind, leaping onto the bottom step of a stairway before calling to the man, "Who were those girls?"

Guido stopped and looked back at the Doctor, slightly confused of the man's wardrobe choice and lack of knowledge of the practically highlight of Venice, "I thought everyone knew about the Calvierri school."

"My first day here," the Doctor stepped down, "Parents do all sorts of things to get their children into good schools. They move house, they change religion. So, why are you trying to get her out?"

"Something happens in there. Something magical, something evil. My own daughter didn't recognize me. And the girl who pushed me away, her face... like an animal."

The Doctor put an arm around Guido's shoulder and thought for a minute, "I think it's time I met this Signora Calvierri."

~ 0 ~

Amy and Rory were walking through a narrow passageway, Rory still a bit confused from all the sudden news, "Are the twins okay, here? Lena's got her inhaler? Avalon knows the city rules?"

Amy, with arms crossed, rolled her eyes and heaved a small sigh, "Yes, they're alright. Would you quit worrying about them? This is our date!"

"What have you been doing, lately? Hm?" Rory shot her a small look.

"Well... running. And fighting. I've been scared. More scared than I thought was..."

"Did you miss me?"

"I... I knew I'd be coming back," Amy rubbed the side of her neck as she looked away for a minute.

"He was right. It blots out everything else," Rory started heading off.

"Rory... this is our date. Let's not do this, not now," Amy held onto his arm, "Please?"

Rory took a look around as he heard the fluttering of wings overhead and half-smiled, "Ha! We are in Venice and it's 1580!"

"I know!" Amy laughed.

Together, they walked off arm-in-arm and passed a stairway where Francesco was lounging above. He noticed a young flower-seller stopping by two other women to offer them poseys. One of them, a brunette, took them while the ginger headed ahead of her. Once the flower seller walked away as well, he started coming down.

~ 0 ~

Amy posed in front of a doorway while Rory knelt to take her picture with his phone, and then hey heard a piercing scream.

~ 0 ~

"Lena!" Avalon screamed and bolted back from where she had come from, bumping into Amy and Rory. She then saw a man over her sister, lifting his head to show blood on Lena's neck. Quickly, the man bared his fangs and ran off as Avalon dashed to her sister, "Lena!? Lena!? Please wake up! Lena, oh God!" Rory ran over to help and check for vitals while Amy dashed after Francesco.

"She'll be okay," Rory said Avalon who quickly cradled her twin in her arms, "Amy, where are..." he saw the second ginger gone, "Where'd she go!?"

~ 0 ~

Guido approached the guards of the school of Calvierri where two guards stood by the doors, "You have my daughter. Isabella!"

"You're not coming in, stop there! We've told you..." one of the guards began to say.

Meanwhile, the Doctor snuck on the side of the building unbeknownst to the guards.

"You have my daughter. Isabella! I demand you let me see my daughter," Guido continued.

The Doctor hopped onto small steps in front of the canal gate and used his screwdriver to open it up. He quickly made his way down stone steps and into a chamber. He noticed a mirror on a wall and sauntered up to it, "Hello, handsome," he straightened his tie out and checked his teeth.

"Who are you?" he heard several women's voices.

He turned to face a group of young girls dressed in white standing around him. He looked back and forth to see them invisible in the mirror, "How are you doing that? I... am... loving it. You're like Houdini, only five scary girls, only he was shorter - _will be_ shorter. I'm rambling."

"I'll ask you again, signor. Who are you?" the girls questioned.

"Why don't you check _this_ out?" he flashed his psychic paper...or his library card with a picture of his first incarnation, "Library card," he put it away as he remembered, "Of course, it's with... He's..." he mimicked once again a large nose, "I need the spare," he faced the girls again and studied them, "Pale, creepy girls who don't like sunlight and can't be seen in...," he glanced at the mirror which remained clear of their reflections, "Am I thinking what I think I'm thinking? But the city. Why shut down the city? Unless..."

"Leave now, signor, or we shall call for the steward... if you are lucky."

"Ooh!" he had a hint of a smile but it immediately vanished when the girls showed bare fangs and advanced on him. He ran to the doorway but turned back for one request, "Tell me the whole plan," he demanded but the girls ignored, "One day that'll work! Listen, I would love to stay here. This whole thing... I'm thrilled. Oh, this is Christmas!" he cheered like a boy and ran up the stairs with the hissing girls behind him.

~ 0 ~

Later that day, in the night, the Doctor and Amy met up across the canal from the school, both utterly excited for some reason.

"Doctor!" the ginger exclaimed.

"I just met some vampires!" he informed.

"We just saw a vampire!"

"And creepy girls and everything."

"Vampires!"

Together, they jumped in their excitement. Though the Doctor stopped when he saw Avalon and Rory walking slowly towards them with a groggy Lena between them, "Woah, hey, that's not good..." he ran over, "...baby sister?"

"There are freaking vampires here!" Avalon spat, "One of them _bit_ her!" she motioned to the dry trail of blood on the side of Lena's neck.

"I feel okay, though," Lena informed them quietly, "Just probably sit down for a good moment would be good."

"Right, so we should all come to my new friend's house," the Doctor offered, "Cos we still have to figure out how to get back in there somehow," he nodded to the school then checked over Lena's 'bite' with his screwdriver.

"What?!" Rory gaped, "Back in where!?"

"How do we do that?" Avalon demanded, glaring at the school. Oh, they'd have something coming to them after what they did to her twin.

"Ava!" Rory frowned.

"No, she's right," Amy joined them.

"NO!"

"Yes," the two gingers reiterated, both crossing their arms with looks of doom.

~ 0 ~

Guido brought out a map of Venice to the table of his house where the Doctor, Avalon and Amy looked over it. Rory sat back among some barrels while Lena took rest on a small bed against the wall.

"As you saw, there's no clear way in. The House of Calvierri is like a fortress," Guido was saying, "But there's a tunnel underneath it, with a ladder and shaft that leads up into the house. I tried to get in once myself, but I hit a trapdoor."

"You need someone on the inside," Amy nodded.

"No," the Doctor immediately said as he looked over the map.

"You don't even know what I was going to say!"

"We pretend you're an applicant for the school to get you inside and tonight you come down and open the trapdoor to let us in."

"Oh," Amy looked to the side and mumbled, "So you know what I was going to say."

"Are you insane?" Rory raised an eyebrow.

"We don't have another option."

"He said no, Amy. Listen to him," and before Avalon opened her mouth he wagged a finger, "And no to your volunteering as well."

"They took my sister!" she reminded.

"Don't care," he pointed again before she opened her mouth, making her quiet down.

"There is another option," Guido spoke up and pointed in Rory's direction, "I work at the Arsenale. We build the warships for the navy."

The Doctor moved over to the barrels and sniffed them, "Gunpowder," he set a hand on Rory's shoulder, "Most people just nick stationery from where they work." Slowly, Rory slid away from the barrels and backed away into a dead rabbit hanging by the fireplace. "Look, I have a thing about guns and huge quantities of explosive," the Doctor said.

"What do you suggest, then? We wait until they turn her into an animal?"

"I want to go," Avalon declared but Amy shook her head.

"It was my idea," she reminded.

"I don't care, they hurt my sister and no one hurts my sister."

"I would like to point out that I am just fine," Lena raised her hand from her spot, "I'm not sparkling or anything and I don't want blood."

"Always the peacemaker, eh?" the Doctor sat down beside her with a small smile as she nodded.

"I don't like arguments."

"Look, in three or four hours tops I'd have the door opened," Avalon insisted.

"No, no, no, no, no, no. It can't keep happening like this. This is how they go."

"I can go," Amy reminded, shooting a small glare at Avalon. It was _her_ idea and she was not going to let anyone take it from her! She wanted to do this!

"Avalon, I don't want you to go," Lena said quietly, "Please don't."

The Doctor took a breath and sat back on the wall, "I have to know. We go together. Say you're my daughter," he looked at Amy, respecting his baby sister's wishes.

"What?! Don't listen to him!" Rory nearly shouted.

"Your daughter? You look about nine," Amy scoffed.

"Brother, then," the Doctor shrugged.

"Too weird. Fiancé."

"I'm not having him run around telling people he's your fiancé," Rory pointed at Amy.

"No. No, you're right."

"Thank you."

"I mean, they've already seen the Doctor. You should do it."

"Me?" Rory blinked.

Avalon shook her head behind Amy, was she really going to do this?

"Yeah! You can be my brother," Amy rubbed Rory's head in a playful manner.

The Doctor smiled while Lena giggled, the only ones not amused being Rory and Avalon.

"Why is him being your brother weird, but with me, it's OK?" he demanded from Amy.

"Actually, I thought you were her fiancé," Guido spoke up as he pointed at the Doctor.

"Yeah, that's not helping," the Doctor mumbled.

"SHUT UP!" Avalon suddenly shouted, "All of you just shut up! Now-" she stepped between the group, dead serious, "-here's the thing, I'm not _asking_ if I can go to that school, I am _informing_ you I'm going to the school. Now, if any one would like to help me then by all means, go right ahead. I will not send a friend of mine to that school when she doesn't know how to even fight," she covered Amy's mouth before the second ginger had remarked on it, "Amy, it's been two years and you and I both know who's more qualified to be running about and smacking people. Now please," she looked between them all, "I'm really trying hard not to kill you or the Doctor and so right now your best, and possibly safest, option is to send me into the school so I can kill the man who bit my twin. Got it?"

"You are mad, Ava," Rory sighed, shaking his head.

Avalon took her hand off Amy and turned to the Doctor, "You owe me, remember? The gun from the Angels? I'll exchange it for this."

"Don't do it," Lena said to him, "Please?"

"We don't even know if they're vampires," he quietly told Avalon as a warning.

"So?"

"It's dangerous."

"What else you got?"

"Your twin is asking you not to go."

"And I love her, but I'm in a foul mood and I'd really like to blow off some steam. Besides, I trust you'd keep her safe?"

"Of course."

"You're not actually going to let her, are you?" Amy questioned, feeling a bit hurt that her plan had just been stolen from her.

"I think I am," the Doctor nodded, "Content, Miss Reynolds?" he looked at Avalon.

"Oh I will be after I get done with them," she crossed her arms.

~ 0 ~

Avalon and Rory stood as petitioners in front of Rosanna, both wearing clothes from the period.

"So, basically, both of our parents are dead from getting the plague. I'm a gondola... driver... so... money's a bit tight... so having my sister go to your school for special people would be brilliant," Rory slowly said as he looked around, "Cheers."

Francesco showed an interest in Avalon, vaguely trying to recall her appearance as he moved in front of her, "Have we met?" he asked her.

"I have one of those faces," she spat, her eyes narrowing as she recalled this being the man over her sister with blood, "Yours is so pretty though, a shame if anything happened to it..."

"Such a tongue for such a lady," he remarked and stepped back.

"Impressed?"

"Not in the least," Rosanna informed from her chair, "Carlo, explain yourself," she looked at a servant, "Why have you brought me this imbecile?"

Rory had to grip onto Avalon's arm before she stalked over to the woman in fury.

"Signora, they have references from the King of Sweden," the servant explained.

"What?" Rosanna blinked, "Let me see," she held her hand out and Rory walked over to hand her the psychic paper. Rosanna took one look at the paper and half-smiled, "Well, now I can see what got my steward so excited," she handed the paper back to Rory, "What say you, Francesco? Do you like her?"

Francesco was circling Avalon who was trying her best to not snap right there and then and strangle him, "Oh, I do, mother. She has attitude that I _like_."

Avalon winced at the tone, even Rory wanting to take a good punch at the man for his implication.

"Then we would be delighted to accept her," Rosanna looked at Rory, "Say goodbye to your sister."

Rory gave Avalon a hug, "Be careful of him," he whispered as he was pulled away.

"Tell my lovely aunt Amy and uncle Doctor I'll see them very soon," Avalon called, no fear in her tone, "And our sister, please. I'll be just fine."

Rory glanced back from the doorway and saw the fangs Francesco bared behind his best friend, "A-Ava!"

~ 0 ~

Carlo led Avalon up the stairs of the school and into a large room she shared with other girls, "There are clothes on the bed. Get changed and wait here."

Avalon nodded and looked up at the opulent, domed room, "Sure."

All the other girls left the room with Carlo except for one who remained sat on her bed. Cautiously, she moved over to the girl and spoke quietly, "Hello, I'm Avalon. What's your name?"

"Isabella," the girl remained looking ahead.

"Right, so, um, listen, we're going to get you out of here, but I need you to tell me what's going on. What is this place? What are they doing?"

"They, um... they come at night. They gather around my bed and they take me to a room... with this green light and a chair with... with straps, as if for a surgeon."

"And what happens in there?"

Isabella's eyes half-widen as she realized, "I wake up here. And the sunlight burns my skin like candle wax."

"Right, best stay away from green light, then," Avalon stood back up and looked around, hearing a bell tolling above.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor, Rory & Guido (who was dressed in Rory's clothes) were inside a gondola that went along a canal driven by Guido. Much to Amy's irritation, she'd been tasked of looking after Lena back at Guido's house, the brunette still a tad weak from earlier. The Doctor had even suggested Rory stay back with them but the man was adamant he'd go and help get his best friend back. It was clear Rory despised the plan of Avalon being inside that school as much as he would've been if Amy had gone in instead.

He knew Avalon was more than capable of taking care of herself, apparently, since she was some future human as explained by Lena before leaving them. But, Avalon was always like a little sister to him or an equal aged sister that he loved dearly, platonic of course. He had always shared a special relationship with Avalon, ever since they were kids. They'd met as kids when he thought Avalon was being bullied by some boys and he was about to go help when all of a sudden the small ginger haired girl started shouting at the boys, driving them off with threats only a child could make. Afterwards, Avalon simply brushed the boys off like nothing happened and noticed Rory staring at her. Rory was intrigued by the girl, she had just driven away a group of boys with the foulest moods possible but now she was practically a ray of sunshine. The ginger girl was just so excited to have "made a new friend on her own" that they actually spent that whole day together, playing any game Rory wanted. So, from there, he'd actually met Amy, Lena and Mels. He had his friends and his love because of Avalon, and he would never finish thanking her for that.

"She'll be fine, you know," the Doctor spoke quietly and brought Rory out of his thoughts.

"You can promise me that, can you?" Rory shot him a small look, "Avalon can do all the talking she wants but I know when she's afraid and she _is_ afraid."

"Well, I wouldn't know how she feels because most of them time she's yelling at me," the Doctor informed, trying not to sound as hurt as he actually was about that fact.

"What? She doesn't hate you," Rory made a loud scoff, "If you only knew."

"Know what?"

"We're here," Guido declared as he stopped the gondola stopped in beside a small gate with a narrow passage of stairs up to another door.

The Doctor and Rory got put and onto the ground, the Doctor carrying a lit torch and Guido stayed back on the gondola.

They stopped at the stairs where the Doctor took a breath, "Right. OK, I'll go first. If anything happens to me, go back..."

"What happened? Between you and Amy?" Rory blurted, "You said she kissed you."

"NOW?! You want to do this NOW?!" the Doctor went up the steps towards the door

"I have a right to know," Rory went after him, "I'm getting married in 430 years."

~ 0 ~

Avalon, carrying a lamp and dressed in the white school dress, had entered a courtyard and hurried up to the well in the center. She set her lamp down and released the bars locking the grate. Once done, she picked up the lamp and turned to see Carlo.

"Oh no you don't!" she used her lamp and whacked it over the man's head before making a break for it.

However, she only made it a few feet into a corridor when she bumped into Francesco and two more guards.

"I knew I recognized you from somewhere," Francesco smiled wickedly.

"Oh I hate you!" the ginger declared and slapped him across the face with all her might, "That was for my sister!"

The man put a hand on his face and glared. Without a word he bared his fangs and lunged on the ginger girl who immediately screamed.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor and Rory walked through the narrow passage with only the torch lighting up their way.

"She was frightened, I was frightened, but we survived," the Doctor was carefuly explaining to Rory, "And the relief of it... and so she kissed me."

"The twins were there," Rory reminded, "Didn't hear anything of Lena or Avalon kissing you."

"Well, um, well, Lena's my baby sister, ew?" the Doctor crinkled his face, "Avalon shouts, remember? Poor Amy was left."

"And you kissed her back?"

"No. I kissed her mouth."

"Funny," Rory rolled his eyes.

"Rory..." the Doctor stopped and liked back, "Rory, she kissed me because I was there. It would have been you," he tapped Rory on the chest," It _should_ have been you."

"Yeah..."

"Exactly. That's why I brought you here," the Doctor had just faced ahead in time to feel a gust of wind blow against them and end their only source of life from the torch, "Can we go and see the vampires now, please?" he fearfully whispered in the dark.

~ 0 ~

Half fighting and half awake, Avalon struggled against the two guards forcing her down the stairs into a chamber bathed in green light. "Get your hands off me!" she shouted.

"Psychic paper. Did you really think that would work on me?" Rosanna questioned in amusement, until she saw the trail of blood oozing down on the ginger's neck, "Francesco?"

"She slapped me!" the man cried.

"You bit my sister!" Avalon snapped, "Did you really think I was gonna let that slide?"

"Enough, sit her down," Rosanna ordered.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor pushed open the grate Avalon had opened earlier and climbed out, using poor Rory as a ladder, "Push..." he got out then reached down to pull RORY up, "There we are," he turned to the room, "Avalon?" he whispered, "Where's Avalon? I can't see a thing."

"Just as well I brought this, then," Rory pulled out a small pencil torch from his pocket.

The Doctor pulled out a longer torch from under his jacket, "Ultraviolet. Portable sunlight."

Rory frowned, "Yours is bigger than mine."

"Let's not go there," the Doctor countered and walked about.

~ 0 ~

Rosanna circled around Avalon who was now sat down in the wooden chairs with tough wrist straps locking her down, "Where are you from?" she demanded from the ginger, "Did you fall through the chasm?"

"Mother this is pointless. Let's just start the process," Francesco sighed.

"Hold your tongue, Francesco! I need to know what this girl is doing in a world of savages with psychic paper," Rosanna looked down at Avalon, "Who are you with? I scarcely believe your idiot brother sent you," Francesco set a hook into an eye socket above the chair, "What are you doing in my school?" one of the girls attached an IV bag to the hook.

"Mm, how about you fix this," Avalon tilted her head to show them her blood on her neck, "And then we'll talk."

Rosanna laughed at the girl, "You're funny. I don't like funny."

"And I don't like you so we're good" Avalon snapped. Francesco held her head from behind, "Get your hands off me!"

"Oh, make sport of me, will you? Tease me as if I were your dog? Well, this dog has a bite, girl," Rosanna showed her fangs.

"You think you scare me? Ha," Avalon breathed rapidly in and out, "I'm Avalon Reynolds and I don't get scared of some silly vampire."

"You think we're vampires? Oh, now _that_ is amusing," Rosanna chuckled.

"You let me go right now!" Avalon tried twisting her head but remained locked in the position as Rosanna made her way over, "No!" she screamed as the woman bit her neck.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor opened up a chest on the ground to reveal skeletal remains, making Rory stare in horror, "What happened to them?"

"They've had all the moisture taken out of them," the Doctor took a feel of a...fingertip?

~ 0 ~

Rosanna pulled away from Avalon and stood straight, licking her lips with satisfaction. Meanwhile, the rest of the girls left the chamber. Avalon blinked slowly as she tried to push through the icky, weakness spreading across her body.

Francesco leaned down beside Avalon and ran a finger along her neck where the puncture wounds were located. Avalon flinched at the contact and made the attempt to lean away from him, her face scrunching with disgust.

"Mother... where you drink from her, may we share? I'm so thirsty."

"Of course, darling," Rosanna motioned for him to go ahead.

"N-n-no-" Avalon gasped when she felt the same disgusting teeth plunge her skin.

~ 0 ~

"That's what vampires do, right? They drink your blood and replace it with their own," Rory was saying, really trying not to freak out as much as he really was at the moment.

"Yeah, except they haven't just had their blood taken, but all the water in their bodies,"the Doctor clarified.

"Why did they die? Why aren't they like the girls in the school?"

"Maybe not everyone survives the process."

Rory walked away in frustration then stopped and pointed at the Doctor, "You out of all the people should not put Avalon in danger! You make her even more dangerous to herself!"

"Let me remind you that _she_ volunteered to go here," the Doctor stood up, frowning, "She doesn't listen to me, I don't have control over her!"

"You have far more influence on her than you think!" Rory snapped, "And if testing her temper isn't enough, you bring Lena into danger she has no business in being. The girl is ill for god's sake! And let's not forget Amy, you make her want to impress you. and risk her own life just so she doesn't let you down. You have no idea how dangerous you make people to themselves when you're around."

But before the Doctor had time to comeback the girls of the school had gathered again under each archway and spoke in unison, "Who are you?"

The Doctor held the ultraviolet light up to them as they got closer," We should run. Run!"

The two ran from the courtyard with the girls right behind them.

~ 0 ~

Rosanna stood in front of Avalon in the chair, "This is how it works. First, we drink you until you're dry. Then... we fill you with our blood. It rages through you like a fire, changing you, until one morning you awake and your humanity is a dream... now faded."

Francesco chuckled, "Or you die," he moved a lock of her away from her neck, "That can happen."

"And if I survive?" Avalon weakly asked as she looked between the two.

"Then there are 10,000 husbands waiting for you in the water," Rosanna opened her arms.

"Yeah, sorry, I don't do marriage with vampires," Avalon kicked Rosanna on her side, making Francesco restrain her back.

Rosanna stumbled back and gasped as she felt the electric hum of her technology strapped onto her. She flipped back part of her dress to the device clipped to her dress. Avalon watched with wide eyes as Rosanna's human image flipped to one of an insectoid creature and then back to human. Suddenly, they all heard the running and voices from above and Rosanna and Francesco quickly ran off to go see about it, leaving Avalon alone. She groaned and tried to make her escape from the stupid chair.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor and Rory ran along a corridor and stopped when they encountered Rosanna, Francesco and even Carlo (the servant). The Doctor looked around nervously, "Cab for Avalon Reynolds?"

~ 0 ~

Avalon screamed again of terror when another hand reached onto her straps.

"It's okay! It's okay! It's just me!" Isabella exclaimed.

"Sh-she-she - _they_ bit me!" Avalon cried as she looked around, swallowing hard.

The girls of the school appeared from the other end of the corridor, blocking the Doctor and Rory's escape. Rosanna, with a smirk, and looked back at her son and servant, "This rescue plan, not exactly watertight, is it?"

The Doctor brandished the ultraviolet light to hold off the girls, "Ha-ha!"

Avalon and Isabella ran in from an intersecting hall, "Rory!" Avalon rushed straight to him, clinging onto him in terror.

"Oh, Ava," Rory stumbled back with her.

"Quickly, through here!" Isabella ran back from the way they'd come in and the rest followed her.

"Seal the house," Rosanna ordered.

~ 0 ~

"They're not vampires!" Avalon exclaimed as they made their way down the underground stairs.

"What?" the Doctor used the sonic on the door for their freedom.

"I saw the, that woman. She's not a vampire, they're not vampires they're aliens!"

"Classic," the Doctor chuckled.

"That's good news?!" Rory cried and looked at Avalon, "She has blood dripping down her neck and this is _good_ news!?"

"I'll be fine," Avalon swallowed.

"Oh don't lie to me, Ava," Rory shook his head.

The Doctor quickly pushed them forwards into a new passageway, "Come on, move!" Francesco led the way with a torch and the Doctor used his own as a weapon and made them lash back, "Keep moving! Come on, guys!"

Once at the door of the canal, Isabella opened it up and ushered them out, "Quickly. Get out. Quick!" once she tried stepping out she hissed at the sunlight and shielded her eyes.

"Oh..." the Doctor hurried back to help her out, "Come on, run!"

"I can't!" Isabella cried as she was dragged back inside by the rest of the girls.

The door was shut and when the Doctor pounded on it he was electrified. He fell to the ground, stumbling down the steps and flat on his back on thee ground. Rory and Avalon ranj back to him where Rory checked him.

"Is he alright?" Avalon gasped.

"He's breathing," Rory said.

Avalon looked back at Guido who stood near the lower gate, sorrowful for the man as his daughter would probably not be coming back...

~ 0 ~

Rosanna walked into her throne room to find the Doctor sitting on _her_ throne.

The Doctor tapped his fingers on the chair's armrest, giving a small wolf whistle, "Long way from Saturnyne, aren't you... Sister of the Water?"

Rosanna studied the man of confidence and lightly gasped, "No, let me guess. The owner of the psychic paper. Then I take it you're a refugee, like me?"

"I'll make you a deal. An answer for an answer. You're using a perception filter. It doesn't change your features, but manipulates the brainwaves of the person looking at you. But seeing one of you for the first time in, say, a mirror, the brain doesn't know what to fill the gap with, so leaves it blank... hence no reflection."

"Your question?"

"Why can we see your big teeth?"

Rosanna laughed, "Self-preservation over-rides the mirage. The subconscious perceives the threat and tries to alert the conscious brain."

"Where's Isabella?"

"My turn," she reminded, "Where are you from?"

"Gallifrey."

"You should be in a museum," she sarcastically gasped, "Or in a _mausoleum_ ," she smirked.

The Doctor shot her a small glare, "Why are you here?"

"We ran from the Silence. Why are you here?"

"Wedding present..." he thought for a minute, "...and impression," he added, "The Silence?"

"There were cracks. Some were tiny... some were as big as the sky. Through some we saw worlds and people and through others we saw silence... and the end of all things. We fled to an ocean like ours and the crack snapped shut behind us... and Saturnyne was lost."

"So Earth is to become Saturnyne Mark II?"

"And you can help me. We can build a new society here, as others have," Rosanna took a step forwards, "What do you say?"

"Hmm," the Doctor stood up and walked up to her, whispering, "Where's Isabella?"

"Isabella?" the woman blinked, completely clueless.

"The girl who saved my er-friend," he really did not know what to call Avalon at this point. For now, and for Rosanna, she was a friend...yeah.

"Oh, deserters must be executed. Any general will tell you that," Rosanna casually informed, seeing irrelevant of the matter, "I need an answer, Doctor. A partnership. Any which way you choose," she stepped closer to him.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, do you? I'm a Time Lord. You're a big fish," the Doctor whispered, crinkling his nose, "Think of the children."

Rosanna frowned, "Carlo! she called and the servant came forwards, "You're right. We're nothing alike. I will bend the heavens to save my race, while you philosophize."

"This ends today. I'll tear down the House of Calvierri, stone by stone," the Doctor warned when Carlo placed a hand on his chest to get him moving, "Take your hands off me, Carlo," he snapped and walked for the door, stopping only to look back, "And you know why? You didn't know Isabella's name. You didn't know Isabella's name!"

~ 0 ~

Avalon, now changed back to her modern day clothes, sat on a chair inside Guido's house with the Doctor beside her, examining her bites with his screwdriver. She tried her best to not to flinch whenever the Doctor's fingers accidentally touched her skin. It just felt too similar to the...no, she didn't want to think about.

"Can I kill them?" she muttered to him.

"Um, no."

"But they bit me... _several_ times," she swallowed at the reminder, growing silent as she remembered the awful moments.

"You okay?" Lena knelt down beside her, taking her sister's hand.

Avalon quickly blinked and smiled, "Yup, just fine," she looked up at the Doctor, "How are those readings?"

He nodded, "Fine," although he could tell it was the complete opposite of what she was feeling, "Here, open wide," he slipped a candy into her mouth, managing to get a small smile out of her.

"So...what now, exactly?" Lena stood up though remained by her twin's side.

The Doctor, frustrated, paced, "I need to think. Come on brain, think, think. Think!" he plopped down at the table, "Think!"

"Well, if they're fish people it would explain why they hate the sun," Amy offered as she took a seat beside him.

He covered her mouth with his hand, "Stop talking, brain thinking. Hush."

"It's the school thing I don't understand," Rory said.

The Doctor placed his hand over Rory's mouth as well, "Stop talking, brain thinking. Hush."

"I say we take the fight to them," Guido shrugged.

"I'm with him," Avalon frowned.

"Ah!" the Doctor shot them both a look.

"I got it," Lena said before covering her twin's and Guido's mouths.

"Thank you baby sister," the Doctor nodded at her, "So, Rosanna's planet dies, so they flee through a crack in space and time, and end up here, then she closes off the city and, one by one, changes people into creatures like her to start a new gene pool. Got it. Then what? They come from the sea, they can't survive forever on land, so what's she going to do? Unless she's going to do something to the environment to make the city habitable... She said, "I shall bend the heavens to save my race," he moved Rory's and Amy's heads in a nod as he spoke, "Bend the heavens... Bend... the heavens... She's going to sink Venice."

Guido removed Lena's hand from his mouth and blinked, "She's...she's going to _sink_ Venice?"

"And repopulate it with the girls she's transformed."

"You can't repopulate somewhere with just women," Rory reminded, "You need... blokes."

Avalon took Lena's hand from her mouth and sighed, "Which she's got...and lots of them."

"Where?" the Doctor asked her.

"In the canal. She said to me, "There are 10,000 husbands waiting in the water."

"Only the male offspring survived the journey here. She's got 10,000 children swimming in the canals, waiting for Mum to make them some compatible girlfriends," he crinkled his noise at the thought, "Ew. I mean, I've been around a bit, but, really, that's... that's... Ew."

Suddenly, there was a loud clattering from the floor above which made everyone look up at the ceiling.

"The people upstairs are very noisy..." the Doctor remarked slowly.

"There aren't any people upstairs," Guido informed.

"I knew you were going to say that. Did anyone else know he was going to say that?"

The wood creaked if someone walked across the floor.

"Is it the vampires?" Lena questioned.

"Like I said, they're not vampires. Fish from space," the Doctor said.

"Yup, makes that a whole lot better," Avalon shook her head.

A loud thump and glass breaking made everyone jump to their feet as the converted girls entered the room, more of them outside the windows. The Doctor brandished the ultraviolet light on them as Guido crossed himself.

"Aren't we on the second floor?" Rory asked, vaguely remembering that.

The girls at the window broke the glass and the Doctor continued using the light to keep them back. He used his screwdriver next to show their true form.

"Oh my god, what's happened to them?" Amy blinked with wide eyes.

"Get them out!" Avalon shuddered a breath, already backing away.

"Ava..." Rory looked back, never seeing her best friend actually showing some fear.

"There's nothing left of them," the Doctor answered Amy's question, "They've been fully converted. Blimey, fish from space have never been so... buxom. OK..." he switched off his screwdriver, "Move. Come on."

They quickly ran down the stairs where Guido lingered behind, "Give me the lamp," he took the ultraviolet from the Doctor and used it on the girls.

The group burst from the entrance doors and rushed out, the Doctor being the last one, "Go, go, go, guys! Keep moving, go, go, go!"

Guido stopped at the door before closing it and locking the others out, "Stay away from the door, Doctor."

The Doctor turned back and rushed to the door, pounding on it, "No! Guido! What are you doing?! I'm not leaving you! What are you doing?!" he took out his screwdriver and used it on the lock but to no avail.

~ 0 ~

Guido lured the girls into his rooms where more barrels were, "Come on. That's it... Come on."

~ 0 ~

"Guido!" the Doctor yelled but received no answer.

~ 0 ~

Guido pocked up a candle with his free hand and grew closer to the barrels, "Come on. Come on. Come on!"

~ 0 ~

The Doctor, now realizing what Guido's plan was, backed away and started running from the house.

~ 0 ~

"We are Venetians!" Guido raised the flame and set it on one of the barrels.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor was thrown to the ground as the house exploded. Upon hearing the explosion, the rest of the group ran back to see the destroyed house.

"Oh my stars..." Lena breathed.

Lightening struck across the sky as the sun was suddenly blocked off and a storm was began.

"Rosanna's initiating the final phase," the Doctor said as they heard the commotion from the other Venetians

"We need to stop her. Come on!" Amy exclaimed.

"No, no. Get back to the TARDIS. All of you," he eyed every last girl and Rory.

"You can't stop her on your own," Avalon reminded, "And I don't follow orders from anyone."

"We don't discuss this! I tell you to do something, and you do it," the Doctor shouted, both gingers flinching, "I've had enough of that! Now go!"

Avalon angrily stormed off.

"Good going," Amy muttered and followed after her friend, much in the same angry manner.

The Doctor sighed and looked at the remaining girl, "Baby sister..."

She raised her hands in surrender, "I know, I know, go back to the TARDIS," she gave a small smile and walked away.

"Thank you, really," Rory nodded and followed after Lena.

"Yeah... You're welcome," the Doctor mumbled. He heard the screams of people and quickly ran off.

~ 0 ~

The human group stopped across the canal from the Calvierri school, Amy looking up at the sky, "Oh, my God! What is going on?"

Francesco, standing across the canal in front of the school, recognized Avalon & Rory.

"The sky, it's like it's boiling," Lena remarked, "We should get out of here."

Francesco removed his bat and cape as he watched the group move on before diving into the canal.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor had walked directly up to Rosanna's throne chair to examine it. He pulled opened the back of it and saw the circuitry and took out the screwdriver.

Unbeknownst, Rosanna had walked in quietly, "You're too late. Such determination... just to save one city. Hard to believe it's the same man that let an entire race turn to cinders and ash. Now you can watch as my people take their new kingdom."

"The girls have gone, Rosanna," the Doctor informed her calmly.

"You're lying," her smile faltered.

"Shouldn't I be dead? Hmm?" he gestured to his very alive self. He sighed when the woman walked away from him, "Rosanna, please, help me. There are 200,000 people in this city."

"So save them," Rosanna waved him off, dearly hoping every last one of them died.

~ 0 ~

Amy, Rory & the twins were walking through the streets when suddenly they found their way blocked by a soaking wet Francesco. Avalon gasped and jumped back, the mental images of the biting and the blood and...

She shook her head and pulled back, for once she was actually, truly afraid.

Rory picked up some candlesticks and held them up in the form of a cross, "Run!" he ordered the girls as Francesco swiped the candlesticks away and moved towards the girls, specifically Avalon.

"Stay back!" Amy ordered, moving in front of the twins as the man grew closer to them.

"This way, you freak!" Rory also called from his spot, "Don't! This...this... this way, you big, stupid, great... SpongeBob! The only thing I've seen uglier than you is... your mum!" and then Francesco stopped and turned back, "No..."

"Did you just say something about Mummy?" Francesco raised an eyebrow.

Rory picked up a broom and brandished it like a sword...and then Francesco pulled out an _actual_ sword making poor Rory question his choice of weapon. Francesco used the moment to attack but Rory blocked him with the broom's handle.

"Careful, Rory!" Lena gasped and looked back at Avalon who actually stood behind her, "Avalon?"

But the ginger watched in terror as her best friend fought the big fish from space.

"Rory, this way, bring him this way!" Amy pulled the twins to a small passage and gestured to Rory to follow.

Francesco sliced Rory's broom's handle and thrusts his sword through a hanging drape. Rory used the opportunity to wrap the man in the drape and backed away.

"Ew! You stink of fish," Rory crinkled his noise and backed away into the next courtyard where the girls had run to.

Francesco rolled his eyes as he followed, "Well, I'm hardly going to smell of cheese and biscuits."

Rory tripped and fell backwards on the ground, even hitting his head. Francesco leaped and changed to his original form, landing on top of Rory.

"Hey! Mummy's boy," Amy called from the stairs. She held a compact mirror in her hand and used it to reflect light onto the alien, making him explode.

"Ha!" Lena cheered as she and Avalon poked their head from under a passageway under the stairs, "Good going, Amy!"

Rory groaned as he wiped the dust of the alien off him, "Oh...oh that's gross."

"That was lucky," Avalon remarked, clearing her throat as she gathered herself up.

"Why did you make the sign of the cross, you numpty?" Amy questioned Rory as he made his way up the stairs to meet he.

Rory rolled his eyes, "Oh, oh, right! I'm being reviewed now, am I?"

Amy shook her head and pulled him to her for a passionate kiss, the twins looking away.

"Ahem, now we go help my big brother?" Lena coughed awkwardly, keeping her eyes away.

Rory, hazed after the kiss had stopped, looked around, "Rightio."

~ 0 ~

As the Doctor entered the throne room from the bell tower, the human group ran inside, "No, get out! I need to stabilize the storm," the Doctor waved them off as he ran up to the throne.

"We're not leaving you," Rory shook his head.

"Right," the Doctor walked back to them, 'So one minute is, ""You make people a danger to themselves," the next it's, 'We're not leaving you!' But if one of you gets squashed or blown up or eaten, who gets..."

But the ground shook violently and cut him off as it sent everyone to the floor, bits of the ceiling falling down around them.

"What the hell was that?" Avalon coughed as she lifted her head up.

"Nothing. Bit of an earthquake," the Doctor jumped to his feet.

"And earthquake?" Lena stood up and helped her twin.

"Manipulate the elements, it can trigger earthquakes. But don't worry about them."

"And why not?" Amy looked around, really seeing lots of things to worry about.

"Because you should worry about the tidal waves caused by the earthquake," the Doctor faced the throne again.

"Big brother you always know exactly what to say," Lena sighed.

"Anyways, Rosanna's throne is the control hub but she's locked the program, so tear out every single wire and circuit in the throne. Go crazy. Hit it with a stick, anything," he headed up to the throne and checked the wires, "We need it to shut down and re-route control to the secondary hub, which I'm guessing will also be the generator."

~ 0 ~

The Doctor worked on wires in the bell tower, the wires connecting the control of the throne's device which created the storm. He ran closer to the tolling bells and held his hands over his ears with such a loud noise.

~ 0 ~

Meanwhile, the human group were pulling all the wires from the throne, causing sparks to fly here and there.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor held the clapper on one of the bells, "Shut up! Shut up!" when it became still he jumped down and sighed in relief, "That's better."

He then went on to tug one of the cables only to see it didn't budge. He climbed onto the rail, gripping the column and nearly slipping from it due to the rain pouring down. He regained his balance and began his climb up.

~ 0 ~

The human group ran back out and looked up, "There he is!" Lena pointed, horrified to see the Doctor climbing up the bell tower, "He's mad!"

~ 0 ~

The Doctor climbed to the top reached a giant sphere at the pinnacle, currently whirring about. He stopped the sphere and saw the actual device causing the storm. He began checking it over and over for some type of clue of how to turn it off...and then he saw a simple toggle switch.

Upon flipping it the rain stopped and the clouds cleared, giving Venice the bright sun and the chirps of birds.

He closed the sphere and looked down at the joyful crowd in the street, giving a little happy wave.

~ 0 ~

Rosanna walked the quay to the large pool-like room, trying to turn off her

perception filter but instead the device just died. She pulled off her gloves and stripped down to her chemise. As she grew nearer to the water, it bubbled with all the male Saturnyne creatures sensing the 'human'. She started walking along the plank just as the Doctor came to find her.

"Rosanna!"

Rosanna looked back with teary eyes, "One city to save an _entire_ species. Was that so much to ask?"

The Doctor slowly walked towards her, cautiously, "I told you, you can't go back and change time. You mourn but you live. I know, Rosanna, I did it."

She looked back at the water and shuddered a breath, "Tell me, Doctor... can your conscience carry the weight of another dead race? Remember us. Dream of us," she took the final step and fell into the water.

"No! No!" the Doctor ran up the remainder of the plank but the water had stopped its bubbling. He sighed and slowly stood up, certainly feeling that weight of a brand new species lost because of him.

"I don't think it was your fault," he heard Lena's voice from behind. He looked back to see her standing at the threshold, "She did that by her own choice, you had already given her a choice before this."

He gave a faint smile and walked back to his 'baby sister', "Look at you being so wise."

"It comes and it goes," she nodded and the two walked off to find their friends.

~ 0 ~

Near the TARDIS, the townspeople were busy cleaning up after the storm. The group emerged from a turn of a corner and were heading towards the box.

"Now, then, what about you two, eh?" the Doctor looked at Amy and Rory, "Next stop Leadworth Register Office? Maybe I can give you away."

"It's fine. Drop me back where you found me," Rory sighed, knowing Amy wouldn't want to return back to Earth for a long time, "I'll just say you've..."

"Stay..." Amy moved beside him, linking her arm with his, "...with us. Please. Just for a bit. I want you to stay."

Rory opened his mouth but looked at the Doctor for his words, "Fine with me," the alien shrugged happily.

"Yeah? Yes, I would like that," Rory nodded.

"Look what I've got?" Lena came with Avalon, the brunette waving a small posey in her hands, "And I did not get bitten this time."

"What's going on?" Avalon noticed the sudden happy looks of everyone.

"Your best friend is coming along...apparently," Rory declared with a grin.

"Really?" she gasped. Immediately, she encased him in a tight hug, "Oh that's great!"

Amy's smile faltered slightly at the action and headed for the TARDIS doors instead, "So, I'll pop the kettle on, then?"

Lena chuckled, "Look at us, the little friends who were neighbors now traveling in a blue box. All we need is Mels and we're set."

"Oh that'd be interesting," Rory laughed as Amy went inside, he tugging Avalon behind him.

"Do I even want to know?" the Doctor asked Lena as they followed.

"No, don't think so," Lena stepped inside.

Just as the Doctor was about to go in he stopped as he looked back, "Lena? Do you hear that?'

"Hear what?" she frowned, "All I hear is...silence," she shrugged and went inside.

The Doctor remained in place and looked out at the now-silent city, recalling Rosanna's words...

~ 0 ~

Avalon gasped and sat upright, breathing heavily as she looked around with rapid blinking eyes. She saw she was in her TARDIS room on her bed, just the place she had excused herself to earlier. She was still dressed in her day clothes as she rarely got sleep nowadays, but somehow this night she'd managed to sleep...only to have an awful nightmare.

She jumped out of her bed and pressed her dress down, tugging her jacket closer as she walked towards her door and opened it up. She could still feel her heart beating quite fast from the nightmare but decided to push away those memories and simply try and find her twin's room. Lena was never the one to have a bad night, despite her condition. She slept like a baby nearly every night. Perhaps, being in the same room with her twin would help her calm down and actually try and sleep a little again.

But as she walked endlessly through the corridors, she couldn't find Lena's room. She recalled the Doctor saying that when the TARDIS liked someone, it would keep the person walking and walking through its infinite corridors and rooms to entertain.

Avalon sighed, "Please, TARDIS, I really need help. I feel awful, won't you please give me the room with the one person who can help me?" she looked around, hearing the hums of the box in response. She sighed again and began walking, "Okay, I'm just going to translate that as 'yes Avalon I'll give you the room'," she nodded.

This time, however, no doors appeared on either side, only agitating her even more, "C'mon, box. Please show me the dang room..." she frowned as she entered the console room, "This isn't funny!" she stomped her foot.

"What's not?" she heard the Doctor's voice call, a bit distant.

"Um...nothing, where are you?" she walked forwards.

"Down here - AH!"

Avalon winced as she heard sparks underneath, "Right, now I get why the TARDIS can't help me. She's busy prying _you_ off her wires."

"I would like to point out that I am indeed okay," the Doctor, sulking almost, walked up the small stairs to meet her, "In case you were wondering."

She shrugged and turned to face him, "Actually I was wondering why your box won't help me find Lena's room."

"Is she okay?" he quickly asked. She nodded, "So why do you need her room?"

"Um...I'm...I wanted to...check up on her?" she quickly nodded again, "Plus I asked for some help and Lena's always the one that helps me...but your box doesn't want to aid me..." she sent a small glare at the rotor.

"You asked her nicely to give you the room?" he wondered genuinely, "You have a very..." he tried wording his sentence carefully. He was always on her bad side and perhaps telling her of her bad attitude would put him even farther down her friend list, "...intriguing attitude..."

"That's just a lame way of telling me you think I have a bad attitude," she crossed her arms, making him wince, "You're right, I do," she shrugged casually, "But yes, I did ask nicely. I asked for help in a polite manner."

"Well maybe she sent you the place she thought you'd get help," half-smiled, "What do you need help with exactly?"

"It's nothing," she quickly turned away, her hand reaching up to her neck as she remained quiet for a minute. Suddenly, she turned to face him, "Can I go home?"

He raised his eyebrows, taken aback by the sudden question. Had he finally angered her so much she actually wanted to leave her twin? "Avalon, I'm...I'm sorry," he sighed.

She frowned, "For what?"

"Look, it's not secret you don't like me but I don't think leaving your sister is a good idea for either of you."

Avalon tilted her head, replaying his words in her mind, "Hold on, you think I don't like you?"

He nodded, "It's pretty obvious. I know hate when I see it."

She opened her mouth and raised a finger...when she thought of a better idea. She crossed her arms, "Can you take me home, please?"

"But Avalon-"

"Doctor, take me home please," she gave him a sharp look.

With no other option, the Doctor went to the console and started putting in the coordinations.

"And can you make sure it's not too long after you first picked me up?" she moved beside him, "Like an hour or two later? Don't want my dad or brother popping in just as I'm coming out of this box."

The Doctor silently nodded, "Hang on," he mumbled and pulled down the lever.

Avalon did as told and clung to the console as the box shook in its violent ways. Once the box stopped she scampered over to the door and opened them up, poking her head out to see the dark living room of her home, even glancing at the clock on the wall striking twelve, "Perfect," she looked back at the Doctor, seeing him dejectedly flipping about some controls over the console, "Oi? Fairy tale man, you coming?"

"For what?" he gave her a small glance.

"Cos I need to show you something," she stepped out to the living room, always facing his direction, "So c'mon."

"It's not a wedding dress is it?" he asked as he started walking towards her.

"Nope," she shook her head, "Or..." he immediately froze in place, "Just kidding! It's only my maid of honor dress. But don't worry, I won't kiss you or anything, promise," she raised her hands in surrender, "But there really is something I need to show you."

"What is it? It's not another slap is it?" he stepped out and closed the TARDIS doors.

"Nope," she put her hands behind her back and started walking into the hallway, flicking on a light as she walked by.

"Or a scream?"

"..no," she said as she headed up the stairs.

"Or a threat?"

"No," she silently stopped by her bedroom door and looked back at him, "Do you think I hate you?"

"No...kind of-er, well..." he rubbed the side of his neck.

"Doctor, do you think I hate you?" she questioned again, dead serious.

He sighed and nodded, "Yes."

"Right," she looked away and grabbed the doorknob, feeling awful. She turned the knob and opened the door, walking inside first, "Fourteen years ago I once told a man who dropped from the sky that I loved fairy tales but that I only loved the modern ones. He said I should go back and read the classics because he was sure I would love them," she turned the switch of her room's light on and headed for a wall with three large bookshelves, all stacked with books. She turned to face the Doctor and smiled softly, "He was _so_ right. They're incredible."

The Doctor looked from one bookshelf to another, a pointing finger at them as he spoke, "Are those all..." she nodded, "...they're all...fairy tales?"

"I love them, I absolutely adore them," she nodded again, "But it all started with this one," she turned and got on her toes to reach up to a shelf, pulling out a think, pink book, " _La Belle au bois dormant_ ," she pronounced perfectly, contrary to the last time she'd attempted to say it. "Like my French?"

He smiled and took the book from her, "You took my advice," he commented, sounding a bit surprised that the ginger who did not follow orders had actually listened to him.

"I loved the story and I figured if that princess had to wait a hundred years for her prince to come, then I could wait 14 measly years for the fairy tale man to come back and take us aboard his ship."

"Explains the not-hitting-me-with-a-cricket-bat greeting," he made a face as he remembered Amy's greeting when he'd returned.

"Oh give her some credit, you were late! Plus, no one really believed her that you were real. Lena and I were lucky, our parents were from New Earth where you saved their ancestors. Of course they believed us, but we couldn't well backup Amy in her stories."

"So...you don't hate me...?" he asked cautiously, his eyes roaming above her to her bookshelves.

"I'm sorry," she began, heaving a small sigh, "You're right, I have a very bad attitude. I'm snappy, I'm rude, and I do and say things I don't mean...most of the time. I haven't been very nice to you and I'm really sorry for that. But I've never hated you. Yes, you've irritated and angered me in the past but I can't hate you. You saved my grandparents, you saved my sister, you saved this planet, and you've saved me. Plus, you made this," she pointed back at her bookshelves.

" _Me_?" he frowned.

"Yes, you! I was content with the modern fairy tales but then you came along and told me to go back and read the older, original versions. Look what you did," she gestured to the several piles of books on the floor beside the book shelves.

"I'm gonna let that blame slip because you told me you don't hate me," he handed her back the book.

Avalon laughed. "Your my fairy tale man! How could I ever hate you!?" she moved over and encased him in a hug. The Doctor smiled so widely it could have possibly cracked his face. He hugged her back and put away any doubts he'd ever had on her. "Now-" Avalon pulled away and wiggled her fingers as she turned to her bookshelf, "-I need to get the book!"

"What book?"

"Whenever I can't sleep I always read at my favorite books," Avalon started piling on books into her arms.

"You know, the library in the TARDIS is at your disposable," the Doctor reminded and was given another smile from her. "Infinite bookshelves are there with any book you want."

"I'll be sure to make a stop there," she nodded and reached for several more books. "In the meantime, could you help me with these?"

"Of course," the Doctor went up and started taking off some of the load so that she could reach for other books. As she did, his eyes landed on her maid of honor dress hanging from a hook beside her closet doors. He smiled and looked around, stopping at the clock on her bed-stand...reading June 26, 2010.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

What a chapter...but at least we got Rory now! I love Rory so much and season 5 paid him dust .

Anyways, I hope you guys liked this chapter and hope to hear your thoughts about it! :)


	7. The Choice

Amy Pond was mixing cake batter in a bowl, actually resting it on her very large pregnant belly. She hummed a little tune, taking small tastes of the batter when suddenly...she gasped.

She set down the bowl and leaned forwards, "RORY-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y!" she screamed.

~ 0 ~

Rory rode on a bicycle into his and Amy's front yard, blowing some air to his longer hair as it got in the way of his eyes. But oh no, he would not cut it ever, no matter if people made fun of his ponytail...and when he thought of people it really only meant Amy & Avalon. Boy when those two got together they made a quite a team at teasing.

"Rory, it's starting!" he heard Amy's shriek from the house.

He quickly dropped his bike onto the ground and ran inside, "Ah. OK, OK..."

Amy sat in the kitchen with her bowl resting on her stomach, eating the batter, "False alarm," she informed calmly.

"What?"

"False alarm."

Rory blinked and shook his head, " _What_?"

"Well, I don't know what it feels like. I've never had a baby before," she fed him some batter and shrugged the matter off. Rory begrudgingly took some of the batter.

Amy heard a whooshing sound coming from the backyard while Rory savored the batter, "Mmm!"

Amy stood up "No..."

"I know - leaf blowers," Rory rolled his eyes, mistaking the whooshing sound, "Use a rake!" he called.

Amy set down the bowl on the table, "No, it's..."

Both looked to the window and saw the TARDIS materializing in their backyard.

"I knew. I just knew," Amy mumbled as Rory headed out before her.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor poked his head out from the TARDIS to see where he was. He noticed there were flowers all around and carefully tried stepping over them...only to knock a stone from the small wall and nearly tripped. "Rory!" he called as the human walked out.

"Doctor," Rory nodded.

"I've crushed your flowers..." the Doctor made a small glance at the crushed flowers and innocently smiled.

"Oh...Amy will kill you," Rory felt the need to inform for the alien's sake.

"Where is she?" the Doctor looked around for the first ginger.

"She'll need a bit longer," Rory glanced back to see if Amy was at least making it out the door.

"Whenever you're ready, Amy," the Doctor called as Amy finally walked out and he got a glimpse of her new appearance, "Oh, wahey! Wahey. You've swallowed a planet," he rested a hand on her stomach.

"I'm pregnant," Amy pointed out, struggling not to laugh.

"You're huge!"

"Yeah, I'm pregnant."

"Look at you. When worlds collide!"

"Doctor, I'm pregnant," Amy said slowly, hoping that now he would get it, but of course he didn't.

"Oh, look at you both," the Doctor looked between the pair, "Five years later and you haven't changed a bit," he hugged Amy, "Apart from age and size."

"Good to see you, Doctor," Amy nodded.

The man looked around for a minute or two then finally looked Amy over, "Are you pregnant?"

Amy shook her head, he was just as slow.

~ 0 ~

The trio walked down the village lane with the Doctor slightly more ahead, "Ah, Leadworth. Vibrant as ever," he remarked.

"It's Upper Leadworth, actually," Rory cut in, "We've gone slightly upmarket."

"Where is everyone?" he frowned at the near-like solitary village, "Primarely the twins."

"They're coming over," Rory replied, Amy nodding, "They always come over in the afternoon's because that's when Amy's cravings really kick up."

"Oi, pregnant here," Amy reminded them of her state.

"Alright, so where's the rest?" the Doctor asked again, the desolate really getting to him.

"Well...this is busy..." Amy shook her head, not even her believing it, "OK, it's quiet, but it's really restful and healthy. Loads of people here live well into their 90s."

"Well, don't let that get you down," he mumbled and moved a bit farther ahead, hearing two distinct, fairly familiar voices across them.

"It's not getting me down," Amy frowned.

"Nor me," Rory added, both exchanging confused glances.

"Is that my baby sister I see?" the Doctor stopped, the pair bumping behind him, "Lena?" he called.

There were two women, walking across them and laughing. Upon hearing the name, the brunette in question looked ahead and gasped, "It's my big brother!" she dashed off.

"Blimey she runs faster now," the Doctor looked back at Amy and Rory.

"Well that's because she's not-" but Rory couldn't finish his sentence when the Doctor had been attacked with a big hug from Lena Reynolds, nearly knocking them back.

"It's my big brother!" Lena exclaimed.

"It's my baby sister...stronger," the Doctor set the woman down to her feet, "And older."

"Oi," she smacked him on the arm, "I'm 24, don't ever say that again."

"Someone's late again," Avalon remarked as she joined them, "But this time it's only been 5 years."

The Doctor rolled his eyes kept looking at Lena, "She doesn't change, does she?"

"Nope."

"Sorry, sorry, hello fairy tale man," Avalon sighed and started over.

"Blimey your..." the Doctor had noticed her hairstyle change and blinked.

"I'd be very careful of what you're gonna say," she crossed her arms.

"I think it's...interesting," the Doctor moved around Lena and circled the ginger woman, much to everyone's amusement, even Avalon's.

"You walk on thin land, fairy tale man," Avalon warned then laughed, "Oh but come here," she stopped his circling and hugged him, "It's really good to see you again."

"Likewise," he nodded.

She pulled away and moved to her sister, Lena giggling and patting down her twin's head. Avalon remained of the same appearance...except her hair. Her messy ginger locks had been pressed into straight strands of fiery orange hair. Amy and Rory snickered when the Doctor mimicked to them Avalon's original hair, though he quickly stopped when the mimicked ginger shot him a glare.

"I didn't do anything," he raised his hands in surrender.

"I swear to you you bow-tie wearing alien..." she had started marching up to him, the alien backing away with each step she took.

"Woah, hey there!" Lena grabbed Avalon's arm, "Let's not go killing my big brother, yeah? He's yet to meet my husband!"

The Doctor took a double step back at her words, "Excuse me?"

Avalon smirked, "Oh this will be good," she turned to Amy and Rory, "Shall we go sit down?"

"Yes," Amy raised a hand while the other rubbed her very pregnant belly.

"So Lena...husband?" the Doctor linked an arm with her and followed the others.

Lena nodded, showing her hand that bore her wedding ring, "Mhm, he's very nice and he's very good looking. His name is Frankie!"

"Frankie?"

"I know, I told her to force him to change his name before marrying," Avalon looked back.

"Oh shush!" Lena waved her off, "Frankie is just fine. I like it."

"Psh, okay," Avalon plopped down beside Amy on a bench.

"Oh shut it... _Avalon_."

Avalon only smirked, "Oh please, my name is derived from the ultimate fairy tale, myth. King Arthur himself," she winked and leaned back, "I've got no shame in my name."

"Oh yeah? Alright then, Avalon Ha-"

"Don't you dare!" the ginger nearly shouted.

"Wow, okay, so twin fights are still the usual," the Doctor put Lena one step back from the bench and sat down on the spot beside Avalon, "Stay put," he wagged a finger at her.

"Scuse you, you come in here five years later to tell me what to do?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, "No, no, no, no, it doesn't work like that."

"I don't just abandon people when they leave the TARDIS. This Time Lord's for life. You don't get rid of the Doctor so easily."

"You came here by mistake, didn't you?" Amy leaned forwards to look at the man.

"Yeah, bit of a mistake," he confessed, "But look, what a result. Look at this...bench. What a nice bench. What will they think of next?"

"Chairs?" Avalon supplied.

"Shut up," he rolled his eyes and looked around, "So. What do you do around here to stave off the, you know..."

"Boredom?" Amy asked.

"Self harm."

"We relax..." Rory answered as he sat on the bench's armrest beside Amy, "We live, we listen to the birds."

"Birds are nice," Lena nodded, simply taking a seat on the ground before them.

"We didn't get time to listen to birdsongs back in the TARDIS days," Rory added.

The faint birdsong suddenly became loud to where the Doctor had to shake his just to see if he could shake off the noise, "Oh, blimey. My head's a bit, ooh..." he held his head in his hands then sat up, "No, you're right, there wasn't a lot of time for birdsong back in the good...old... days."

The group had all fallen asleep in their respective places.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor found himself on the TARDIS floor, blinking and sitting up, "What? No, yes, sorry, what?" he stood up and saw the four human companions meeting up at the console, equally confused, "Oh, you're OK. Oh, thank God. I had a terrible nightmare about you two. That was scary. Don't ask, you don't want to know. You're safe now," he hugged Amy.

"Oh, okay..." the ginger registered the place.

"That's what counts. Blimey, never dropped off like that before. Well, never, really. I'm getting on a bit, you see. Don't let the cool gear fool you. Now, what's wrong with the console?" he went around the console, examining the red lights, "Red flashing lights... I bet they mean something."

"Doctor, I also had a kind of dream thing..." Rory looked at the twins and Amy, all nodding.

"So did we..." Avalon looked at Lena, "...have a twin thing?"

"Mm..." Lena didn't look so convinced, "Amy and Rory are _not_ our twins, so...?" but of course she then crossed looks with the Doctor, both still sharing the secret (which felt more of a burden to Lena) that Avalon wasn't Lena's twin either.

"But it wasn't a nightmare," Rory looked at Amy, "We were just...married."

"Yeah, in a little village," Amy nodded.

The Doctor stood and faced the four as they all relayed on their dream.

"A sweet little village, and you were pregnant," Rory pointed at Amy.

"Yeah, I was huge. I was a boat," Amy looked down at her stomach which was still flat and not pregnant.

"And I was married..." Lena recalled, blinking as she glanced at Avalon, "Avalon what are you...?"

Avalon was busy patting her ginger locks, "Um...I had different hair..."

"So you had the same dream, then? Exactly the same dream?" Rory asked, unaware of the Doctor behind him tugging on his hoodie to see about that pony-tail.

"Rory Williams are you calling me a boat?" Amy raised an eyebrow.

"And Doctor, you were visiting," Lena pointed at him.

He took her hands and inspected them for a wedding ring, finding nothing.

"Yeah, yeah, you came to our cottage," Amy remembered.

"No, no...don't do that..." Avalon frowned but remained still as the Doctor poked her hair then patted it.

"How can we have the same dream? It doesn't make sense," Rory shook his head.

"And you had a nightmare about us," Amy looked at the Doctor, the man coming over to inspect her as well. He opened her jacket and saw her stomach was not pregnant unlike his dream, "What happened to us in the nightmare?"

"It was similar, in some aspects," he replied.

Which aspects?"

"Well, _all_ of them."

"You had the same dream?" Avalon asked.

"Basically."

"But you said it was a nightmare."

"Did I say nightmare? No. More of a really good...mare," he shrugged, "Look, it doesn't matter. We all had some kind of psychic episode. We probably jumped a time track," the birdsong from the village started up again, "Forget it, we're back to reality now."

"Doctor, if we're back to reality how come I can still hear birds?" Lena looked above them as if they'd see the little birds responsible for the song.

"Yeah, it's the same birds," Avalon blinked, "The same ones we heard in the…"

~ 0 ~

The group awoke back in upper Leadworth suddenly, all in the spots they had been in before "dozing off"...

"…dream," Avalon mumbled as they woke up.

She and the Doctor had their heads together and upon realizing it, they pulled away in embarrassment, both sporting blushes.

"Oh. Sorry. Nodded off, stupid. I haven't had very good sleep in a long time," the Doctor blinked while Avalon quickly stood up and helped Lena up to her feet.

Rory, who had fallen to the ground, also stood and dusted himself off, "God, I must be overdoing it. I was dreaming we were back on the TARDIS," he looked at Amy ans the twins, "You had the same dream, didn't you?"

Amy nodded, "Back in the TARDIS. Weren't we just saying the same thing?"

"But we thought this was the dream," Lena frowned.

The Doctor had picked up a small stone from the path and studied it then threw it back to the ground.

"I think so. Why do dreams fade so quickly?" Avalon looked at the Doctor for some help, "What's going on?"

"Is this because of you? Is this some Time Lord thing because you've shown up again?" Amy raised an eyebrow.

"Listen to me. Trust nothing," he tuned and faced them, "From now on, trust nothing you see, hear or feel."

"But we're awake now," Rory said, thinking it should mean they were just fine.

"You thought you were awake on the TARDIS too," the Doctor pointed out, but still everyone was reluctant to admit there was something wrong in their peaceful town.

"But we're home," Lena frowned.

"Yeah. You're home. You're also dreaming. Trouble is, baby sister, which is which?" the Doctor made a round, eyes examining everything in his path. "Are we flashing forwards… or backwards? Hold on tight. This is going be a tricky one."

~ 0 ~

Amy awoke in one of the TARDIS chairs with a gasp, Lena besides her doing the same. Rory and Avalon awoke on the stairs to see the Doctor already at the console, gripping a lever to move it.

"This is bad. I don't like this," he kicked the console with his foot only to yelp in pain and hop on his good foot, "Argh! Never use force. You just embarrass yourself."

"Hm, speak for yourself. I always use force and _I_ don't embarrass myself," Avalon stood up and moved to her twin.

"Not now Avalon!" he went down the stairs under the console. .

"Fine," she looked around, "Is there some manual or something you can use? I mean...there should be one, right?"

"I threw it in a supernova!"

Avalon stopped to see if she'd heard right. "No, wait, did you say you threw it at a _supernova_? _Why_ would you do that?"

"Because I disagreed with it!" the Doctor now shouted as he returned from underneath, a wagging finger already directed at her.

"Really? Was it really that? Or did you figure out that _it_ was the right one and _you_ were the wrong one in the situation?"

The Doctor stared at her, of course quite irritated with her.

"Okay," Rory cut into their looming argument, "so whatever's wrong with the TARDIS is what caused us to dream about the future?"

The Doctor looked away from the still-smirking ginger to answer Rory's question. " _If_ we were dreaming of the future."

Yes, Rory still did not feel better.

"Of course we were. We were in Leadworth," Amy shrugged.

" _Upper_ Leadworth," Lena reminded.

"Yeah, and we could still be in Upper Leadworth, dreaming of this. Don't you get it?" the Doctor sighed and moved onto the console.

"No, OK, no, this is real. I'm definitely awake now," Amy assured as she nodded.

"And you thought you were awake when you were all elephanty," he mimicked poor Amy's pregnant size.

"Hey, _pregnant_ ," she pointed.

"And you could be giving birth right now. This could be the dream!" the Doctor gestured to the room with open arms. "I told you, trust nothing we see or hear or feel. Look around you. Examine everything. Look for all the details that don't ring true."

"Mm, that's not as easy as you think," Avalon crossed her arms, "We're in a spaceship that's bigger on the inside than the outside with a bow tie-wearing alien. Shall we really poke a hole in that?"

"She's got a point there, big brother," Lena agreed, "Perhaps another strategy could be used?"

Suddenly, the TARDIS powered down and left the group in pure darkness with only a small light coming from the console.

"It's dead. We're in a _dead_ time machine," the Doctor looked up at the rotor, horrified.

"It's starting..." Lena trembled as the birdsong started again.

"Remember - _this_ is real, but when we wake up in the other place, remember how real _this_ feels," the Doctor said to them.

"It is real," Amy nodded, "I know it's real."

~ 0 ~

The Doctor stood in the middle of the street as a group of schoolchildren passed by, the rest of his companions slowly waking up once more.

"OK. This is the real one, definitely this one," Amy rubbed her stomach, "It's all solid."

"It felt solid in the TARDIS too. You can't spot a dream while you're having it," the Doctor waved his fingers in front of his face.

"Must I even ask what you're doing?" Avalon raised an eyebrow as she stood up from her spot on the ground which she'd fallen on...again.

"Looking for motion blur, pixilation. It could be a computer simulation. I don't think so, though."

"Then stop waving your hand like an idiot?"

The Doctor dropped his hand and started looking elsewhere.

An elderly woman walked by the group and smiled when she saw Rory. "Hello, doctor."

"Hi," the Doctor greeted at the same time Rory said, "Hello."

"You're a doctor," the Doctor looked at Rory sharply after the woman had left them.

"Yeah. And unlike you, I've actually passed some exams."

The Doctor looked suspiciously around, ending on Lena and her wedding ring, "Baby sister, tell me about your husband."

"Okay, um...he's got a job at the post office - he's the head of it. We have this nice house, gorgeous backyard. He's very kind, loving, funny," she sighed in content.

"Mhm..." he looked over at Avalon, "...Avalon...?"

"I'm single," she mumbled, "...no boyfriend, still with my dad and brother."

"Then again..." he swayed his head and turned, missing Avalon's mock-glare behind him.

"What?" Amy frowned as she looked between them.

"You have your dream wife, your dream job, probably your dream baby," he said to Rory then looked at Lena, "And then you have the perfect husband...are these your dreams?"

"It's Amy's dream too," Rory defended, "Isn't it Amy?"

"Yes. Course it is, yeah," the ginger tensed.

"Right...then maybe this is _Avalon's_ dream," the Doctor shot the second ginger a look that made her stiffen.

"Why would this be her dream?" Lena questioned, confused. She didn't want to be rude, she loved her twin and all, but...Avalon really had...no life.

"Lena, how's your health?" the Doctor asked, his gaze locked on Avalon.

"Shut up," the ginger ordered, her voice low in volume but not authoritative at all, "Just shut up." Why did have to go poking holes at something that could indeed be very true?

"Okay, what's going on?" Rory once again had to cut in between the two. He took Avalon's hand and pleaded her to speak with him just like she always did. "Ava?"

"I'm fine," Avalon spat and pulled her hand from him, surprising him actually. Avalon always talked to him no matter what, then again he had only just come to learn that she'd already been travelling through time and space so maybe... he didn't know her that well anymore.

"If you could just tell me-"

"Rory, I"m fine. We're done here," Avalon turned to get away from them a bit. Rory sent the Doctor a small hard look which then made Amy send the same look to Avalon.

"What's that?" the Doctor decided to move on and pointed at a building behind him.

''Old people's home," Lena answered the question, eyeing her twin in concern.

The Doctor looked at the home and saw its residents peering out the window, "You said everyone here lives to their 90s. There's something here that doesn't make sense. Let's go and poke it with a stick."

Lena and Rory exchanged a glance before following the Doctor. Amy groaned as she stood up from her seat on the bench, her hands on her back, "Oh. Can we not do the running thing?"

~ 0 ~

The group entered the old people's home which seemed to be fairly quiet and...normal. At least, that's the way it appeared for the humans. The Doctor was very keen on seeing the bits that didn't quite fit. As they passed people, Rory was greeted as 'Dr. Williams' by nearly everyone.

Mrs. Poggit, who sar on a couch chair, looked up from her knitting when the group came into the lounge room. "Hello, Rory, love."

"Hello, Mrs Poggit," Rory neared the woman, forgetting the mission they were supposed to be on. "How's your hip?"

"A bit stiff."

The Doctor was taking a look around the room when he heard the two. "Oh, easy, D-96 compound, plus..." he looked at the humans and their confused faces, "No, you don't have that yet, forget that."

"Who's your friend?" Mrs. Poggit looked at Rory again, "A junior doctor?"

"Yes."

"Can I borrow you?" she then asked the Doctor, holding up her almost-finished, knitted, sweater. "You're the size of my grandson."

The Doctor knelt down before the woman, allowing her to put the jumper over his head, "Slightly keen to move on. Freak psychic schism to sort out," he leaned forwards and forced Poggit back, "You're incredibly old, aren't you?"

"Well that's rude," Avalon remarked...right before they heard the birdsong again.

With no option, the entire group fell to the floor asleep.

~ 0 ~

The group awoke leaning against the console, all more than annoyed they were once again forced to switch 'worlds'.

"OK, I hate this, Doctor," Amy groaned and pushed herself up to her feet. "This is definitely real, it's definitely _this_ one," she insisted then took a pause, "I keep saying that, don't I?"

"Kind of," Lena answered with a faint smile as she shivered.

"It's bloody cold," Rory complained, he too beginning to shiver.

"The heating's off," the Doctor explained briefly.

"Heating's off?" Avalon raised an eyebrow. "Well, turn it back on?"

"If I could do that, we wouldn't be in this mess," he went right past her to the console. "Just put on a jumper. That's what I always do."

"Sure, let me just go get the one Mrs. Poggit put on you over there-"

"Oh no, you're best to stay away from her," the Doctor suddenly warned her, confusing everyone.

"What do you mean 'act'?" Rory asked. The Doctor wasn't really about to say that his patients weren't even real was he?

But the Doctor didn't stick around to explain more of his thoughts. He'd gone up the staircase to check more of the controls which all, so far, seemed to be off. With a groan, he hurried back down. "Everything's off, sensors, core power. We're drifting. The scanner's down so we can't even see out! We could be anywhere."

"But how can that be? I thought your TARDIS was supposed to be invisible or something," Avalon remarked, and although this time she had only meant it as a simple comment the Doctor still took offence.

"I can't control when someone or something is overriding my controls!"

Suddenly, a short man dressed similarly to the Doctor appeared at the top of the stairs, "Well, that took a while," he came down the stairs, making everyone turn to the new sound of voice, "Honestly, I'd heard such good things. Last of the Time Lords, the Oncoming Storm. Him in the bow tie."

"How did you get into my TARDIS? What are you?" the Doctor demanded.

"What shall we call me?" the man thought about it for a minute. "Well, if you're the Time Lord, let's call me the Dream Lord."

"Nice look," the Doctor eyed the man for a moment.

"This?" the man looked at himself with a distasteful face, "No, I'm not convinced. Bow ties?"

The Doctor took out an item from his pocket and chucked it at the man, the others gasping as the item simply went _through_ the Dream Lord, "Interesting."

"I'd love to be impressed, but Dream Lord - it's in the name, isn't it?" the man spoke in a calm manner, "Spooky, not quite there," he disappeared then reappeared behind them, "And yet, very much here."

"I'll do the talking, thank you. Anyone want to take a guess at what that is?" the Doctor looked back at the group.

"I suppose he makes dreams and whatnot," Avalon shrugged.

"It's in the name, clearly," Amy reminded her, a bit on the fence.

"Dreams, delusions, cheap tricks," the Doctor confirmed.

"And what about the gooseberry here, does he get a guess?" the Dream Lord glanced at Rory with a smirk.

"Listen, mate, if anyone's the gooseberry around here, it's the Doctor," Rory, not very firm, replied.

"Don't be rude," Lena nudged him and whispered.

"There's a delusion I'm not responsible for," the Dream Lord nearly laughed.

"No, he is. Isn't he Amy?" Rory looked at the ginger for support.

"Oh, Amy, have to sort your men out," the Dream Lord stared at Amy, "Choose, even."

"I have chosen. Of course I've chosen," Amy snapped and there was a small moment of silence before she smacked Rory on the chest, "It's you stupid," she muttered.

"Oh, good, thanks," Rory nodded.

"You can't fool me. I've seen your dreams," the Dream Lord shook his head, "Some of them twice, Amy. Blimey, I'd blush if I had a blood supply or a real face."

"You leave her alone," Avalon ordered, tugging Lena closer to her. By the looks of it, the man was only trying to get them to go against each other.

"I wouldn't be so quick to defend your little friend," the Dream Lord wagged a finger at her.

"I'd defend my family and friends to the death if I had to."

"Even when one of those friends secretly doesn't trust you?"

Avalon blinked and looked at Amy, "What's he talking about?" Amy looked to the side without a response.

"Where did you pick up this cheap cabaret act?" the Doctor moved forwards, not about to let some stranger come and cause arguments between the gingers; they were feisty enough.

" _Me_? Oh, you're on shaky ground," the Dream Lord plainly said.

"Am I?"

"If you had any more tawdry quirks you could open up a Tawdry Quirk Shop. The madcap vehicle, the cockamamie hair, the clothes designed by a first-year fashion student..." the Dream Lord trailed off then smirked all over again. "I'm surprised you haven't got a little purple space dog just to ram home what an intergalactic wag you are. Where was I?"

"Oh, you were..." Lena began.

"I know where I was," the Dream Lord snapped at her before moving to the upper level, "So, here's your challenge. Two worlds. Here in the time machine, and there in the village that time forgot. One is real, the other's fake. And just to make it more interesting you're going to face in both worlds a deadly danger. But only one of the dangers is real." And before the group could even argue on their circumstances, they heard the birdsong again. "Tweet, tweet. Time to sleep," he watched as the group began falling to the floor asleep, "Oh, or are you waking up?"

~ 0 ~

The group awoke in the empty lounge of the old people's home. The Dream Lord entered the room dressed in a suit and holding an X-ray film, "Oh, this is bad. This is very, very bad. Look at this X-ray." He stopped in front of the Doctor. "Your brain is completely see-through. But then, I've always been able to see through you, Doctor."

"Always? Why do you say that?" Avalon raised an eyebrow as she stood up and helped Lena, eyeing the Doctor who now sat in Mrs. Poggit's chair.

"Now then, the prognosis is this," the Dream Lord prepared to give them the news, "If you die in the dream you wake up in reality. Healthy recovery in next to no time. Ask me what happens if you die in reality?"

"What happens?" Rory asked dutifully.

"You die, stupid. That's why it's called _reality_."

"Have you met the Doctor before?" Amy questioned, making sense out of Avalon's words, "Do you know him? Doctor, does he?"

"Now don't get jealous. He's been around, our boy," the Dream Lord waved her off, "Never mind that. You've got a world to choose. One reality was always too much for you, Doctor. Take two and call me in the morning," and he disappeared.

"Okay, I don't like him," Lena pointed to the spot the man had just been at.

"Who is he, Doctor?" Avalon continued.

"I don't know, it's a big universe," the Doctor shrugged.

"Mm, I smell lies."

"Why is he doing this?" Amy asked instead.

"Maybe because he has no physical form. That gets you down after a while, so he's taking it out on folk like us who can touch and eat and feel," the Doctor stood and took off the jumper.

"What does he mean, deadly danger? Nothing deadly has happened here," Rory said, "A bit of natural wastage, obviously."

"They've all gone," the Doctor pointed out, making everyone realize the room was empty save them, "They've all just... _gone_."

They ran out to see about the missing people but only saw school children with a teacher heading up to the local ruins. Besides them, the town seemed to be almost empty.

"I don't understand, why would they leave?" Lena frowned. She couldn't quite remember if something like this had happened before.

"And what did you mean about Mrs Poggit's act?" Avalon remembered the Doctor's earlier warning.

"One of my tawdry quirks – sniffing out things that aren't what they seem."

"You're not answering the question!" the ginger exclaimed, mildly frustrated with his lack of words. He was so busy trying to figure out the solutions to problems they couldn't even understand well.

"So come on, let's think. The mechanics of this split we're stuck in..." the Doctor thought of their situation, "Time asleep matches time in our dream world, unlike in conventional dreams."

"And we're dreaming the same dream at the same time," Rory added.

"Yes, sort of communal trance, very rare, very complicated. I'm sure there's a dream giveaway. But my mind isn't working because this village is so _dull_!" the Doctor walked past them, "I'm slowing down, like you have."

"Excuse you," Avalon frowned.

"Oh! Ow!" Amy clutched her stomach, making everyone turn to her, "Really. Ow!" she screamed in pain, "It's coming."

"Help her, you're a doctor," the Doctor turned to Rory.

"You're a doctor!" Rory retaliated.

The twins watched in amusement as the two "doctor" men tried figuring the baby mess out, Lena even giggling when the Doctor squatted down as if to catch the baby.

"Goes to show you, whether human or alien all men are plain idiots," Avalon declared and pushed the Doctor and Rory out of the way, "Amy, breathe, c'mon," she set her hands on Amy's shoulders.

"Okay, it's not coming," Amy said after taking a breath.

"What?" the Doctor pushed Avalon to the side, irritated.

"This is my life now and it just turned you white as a sheet. So don't you call it dull again, ever," Amy snapped, "OK?"

"Sorry."

"Yeah," Amy walked off.

While the rest followed, the Doctor noticed Mrs. Poggit heading for the ruins where the children were. Amy sat down on a swing set, leaving one extra swing for another. Before Rory could take it, the Doctor nabbed it and plopped down.

"Now, we all know there's an elephant in the room..." he cast a small glance at Amy.

"I have to be this size, I'm having a _baby_ ," Amy rested her hands on her big belly.

"No, no. The hormones seem real, but no. Is nobody going to mention Rory's ponytail?" the Doctor looked up at Rory with a slow smile, "...or Avalon's hair?"

Avalon glared and moved to hurt him when Rory grabbed her, "Let's not go committing murder here," he said to her.

The Doctor simply continued, getting a kick out of it for some reason. "Oh, I thought I was being polite this time."

"Yeah? Then why are you smirking?" Avalon had caught sight of it and grew more irritated.

"Was I? I hadn't noticed."

Avalon pushed the Doctor off the swing, the poor alien falling to the floor where Lena sat. "Funny, now _I'm_ smirking."

"Alright, I'll settle down for cutting Rory's ponytail," the Doctor frowned and sat up with a huff.

"Oh, this coming from the man in the bow tie," Rory rolled his eyes, now thinking Avalon was right in pushing him off the swing.

"Bow ties are cool."

Avalon let out a big scoff, "They're dorky!"

The Doctor ignored her and stood up, dusting himself off when he noticed Mrs. Poggit watching the children by the ruins, "I don't know about you, but I wouldn't hire Mrs Poggit as a babysitter," the woman actually turned and stared back at them. "What's she doing? What does she want?"

But they heard the birdsong again and made everyone shift in uneasiness...

"Oh, no, here we go," Lena sighed before they fell asleep.

The Doctor was hurrying around the console with haste when the rest of the group came to join him after having woken up.

Amy rubbed her arms as the temperature had decreased in the room, "It's really cold. Have you got any warm clothing?"

"What does it matter if we're cold?" the Doctor snapped, "We have to know what she is up to."

"Does that mean being extra rude?" Avalon raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry. Sorry," he rubbed his face and took a moment to calm, "There should be some stuff down there, have a look."

"C'mon, Lena," Avalon linked arms with Lena while Amy and Rory headed off. Before the twins followed, however, Avalon punched the Doctor in the arm, "Keep up with your rudeness today and you'll have it worse," she warned. "Rude, idiot," she mumbled and walked off, though Lena stayed behind.

"Your sister is freakishly strong," the Doctor frowned and rubbed his arm.

"Yeah, do you need any help?" Lena looked at the console, knowing there was probably nothing she could do to help.

"I'd like for you to go get a sweater for you," he tried pushing her along with the others. Out of everyone, she was the coldest and most fragile and needed a lot more attention during these moments.

"Are we going to be okay?" she stopped and faced him, nervously waiting for the answer.

"Yes," he nodded and tried sending her off again but she remained still.

"I really suck at this traveling," she sighed.

"No, no, don't say that," he frowned, "You are wonderful! You are-"

"A big scaredy-cat," she finished for him with a small smile.

"What? No, no..." he tried to think of another word that would describe her natural fearful attitude, "...you're...you're, um... _timid_. Yeah, you're very timid!"

Lena smiled at his attempts to downgrade just how bad of a time traveler she really was, "No, big brother, I'm terrified of everything. I don't even know what I'm doing here, honestly. I suck at it, I don't belong here. It's Avalon that really belongs here, I'm...just a sick woman."

"Lena, don't...don't say that," the Doctor shook his head, "Look, I'm trying to help you figure out a way to improve your health, and-"

"I know what you meant about my health earlier," she cut him off suddenly, seeing him stiffen, "It's because in the other world I'm completely healthy and in this one...I'm me. You're right to think that the other life may just be a dream of Avalon's. I know that dream or real life, Avalon wouldn't hesitate to give up her own life for mine, to have _no_ life so that I could have one...but I know that the other one is fake. It's got to be."

"Because you're healthy," the Doctor sighed.

"No, because I would _never_ allow Avalon to give up so much for me like she has in that world."

The Doctor blinked and felt even more sorrowful for Lena, for Avalon. With no other words to say, he took Lena into a tight hug that expressed how sorry he was for the life she'd been given and what it caused for Avalon to be and do. Unbeknownst to them both, Avalon watched them from her spot with Amy & Rory in a little off-to-the-side room. Avalon was bundled up in a blanket Rory had given her and was offering ideas to them on how to figure out which reality was...reality. But for some reason, Avalon kept glancing back at her twin because she decided to stay with the Doctor and not with them, her sister. Avalon really liked what the Doctor could do to her twin in respect to Lena's attitude and spirits. But, it was just weird because for all their time of life it had always been _her_ to make Lena feel better.

"Ava?" Rory snapped her out of her thoughts and held a second blanket, "For Lena."

"Thanks," she whispered and hugged the blanket.

"You alright?" Rory eyed her, seeing the answer was a big 'no'.

"I just...I really want the other world to be real," she faced him, "Why can't it be real?"

"Who says it's not?" Rory raised an eyebrow, both smiling and giving each other a hug.

Behind them was Amy giving a little glare to Avalon. Here they go again...

A couple minutes later the group rejoined and the Doctor showed off a little contraption made of kitchen gadgets which he handed to Rory, "Rory, wind," he handed Lena the attached wire, "Lena, could you attach this to the monitor, please."

"I was promised amazing worlds. Instead I get duff central heating and a weird, kitchen wind-up device," Rory deadpanned, getting a scoff from Avalon of agreement.

"It's a generator. Get winding," the Doctor motioned with a finger.

"It's not enough," Lena called.

"Rory wind," the Doctor urged.

"Why is the Dream Lord picking on you?" Amy felt the need to ask. So far, there had been no proper explanation of who this Dream Lord was nor what he wanted. "Why us?"

Avalon noticed the console monitor beeping to life and moved over to see, "Where exactly are we?"

"We're in trouble," the Doctor had moved beside her.

"What is that?" Amy peered around to the screen.

"A star. A cold star," the Doctor blinked and bolted for the doors. He opened them up and was greeted with a blinding light, "Oh... that's why we're freezing. It's not a malfunction. We're drifting towards a cold sun. That's our danger for this version of reality," he shut the doors and turned to the large monitor on the wall.

"Well, this has to be the dream, then," Amy nodded, looking at the others for support, "There is no such thing as a cold star. Stars burn."

"Stars can be cold," Avalon informed seriously, missing the second glare Amy gave for shooting down her idea.

"Is that even possible?" Amy tried challenging Avalon's statement. Yes, she now understood that the Reynolds family were some sort of future human descendants but she doubted that they could really know a whole lot of space like the Doctor.

"Clearly," Avalon gestured to the doors, oblivious to what was running through Amy's head. "This is a big universe. My mother once told us about a planet with talking sofas!"

"That is absolutely real," the Doctor pointed at her as he returned to the console.

"I always thought that was just her way of getting us off the sofa so we could go outside," Lena shrugged.

"How long until we crash?" Avalon asked.

"About 14 minutes," the Doctor dejectedly plopped down on the console chairs, "But that's not the problem here."

"Because you know how to get us out of this?" Rory tried to hope just a little.

He pulled out his stethoscope and put it on, "Because we'll have frozen to death."

"Always have the right words there, big brother," Lena sighed.

"The important thing here is to stay calm," he tried mending his words while using the stethoscope on the console, "Don't get sucked in to it, because this just might be the battle we have to lose."

"Oh, this is so you, isn't it?" Rory rolled his eyes.

"What?"

"What a weird new star, 14 minutes left to live and only one man to save the day," Rory had to roll his eyes again, "I just wanted a nice village and a family."

The Dream Lord appeared behind the Doctor and inputted his casual, nice remarks, "Oh, dear, Doctor. Dissent in the ranks. There was an old doctor from Gallifrey, Who ended up throwing his life away, He let down his friends and..." he stopped at the sound of the birdsong, "Oh, no, we've run out of time. Don't spend too long there, or you'll catch your death here."

~ 0 ~

Once awake, the Doctor rushed towards the ruins to see the area was empty except for small piles of dirt and cloth, "Where have the children gone?" he took out his screwdriver and scanned the piles.

"What's going on here?" Avalon looked at the piles of dirt, her hand joining with Lena's for safety. There was an eerie silence she wasn't caring for at the moment.

"Don't know. Play time's probably over," Rory absently responded then turned to Amy, looking determined. "You see, this is the real one. I just feel it. Don't you feel it?"

"I feel it both places," Amy gave a casual shrug, apparently not quite agreeing which only further annoyed Rory.

"I feel it here," he insisted. "It's just so tranquil and relaxed. Nothing bad could ever happen here. Avalon, you agree, right?"

Avalon gave a sideways glance and nodded silently. Amy shook her head, scoffing loudly, "That doesn't sound like Avalon _at all_. She and I are the same, we wouldn't be happy settling down in a place with a pub, two shops and a really bad amateur dramatics society. I mean, that's why I got pregnant, so I don't have to see them doing Oklahoma."

"Doctor, what are you doing?" Lena decided to cut off the ginger. She didn't like hearing the fact she'd basically ruined Avalon's life even in dream form, "And what are those piles of dust?"

The Doctor was letting some of the dust run through his fingers, a somber expression taking over his face. "Play time's definitely over."

"Oh my god..." Lena gasped and covered her mouth, her eyes watering as she looked from one pile of dust to another, "...you mean they're all..." the Doctor nodded, "...oh my god!"

"But what happened to them?" Avalon put an arm around her twin's shoulders and gave her a hug.

The Doctor's eyes drifted to the elderly walking along the pathway behind them, "I think _they_ happened..."

"But they're just old people," Amy remarked.

"No. They're _very_ old people," the Doctor quickly dashed down the steps with the others close behind, "Sorry, Rory, I don't think you're what's been keeping them alive."

The elderly lined up along the path that faced the park, staying still while the group headed towards them. Unfortunately, the Dream Lord appeared on the sideline as the group passed, "Hello, peasants. What's this, attack of the old people? Oh, that's ridiculous. This has got to be the dream, hasn't it? What do you think, Amy?" he gave the ginger a smirk, "Let's all jump under a bus and wake up in the TARDIS," he pointed to the Doctor, "You first!"

"Leave her alone!" the Doctor snapped.

"Do that again," the Dream Lord teased, "I love it when he does that. Tall dark hero, 'leave her alone'".

"Just leave her!" Rory ordered.

"Yes, you're not quite so impressive," the Dream Lord shook his head.

"You are such a prick," Avalon spat, "Why do you feel the need to cause so many problems?"

"Because I know the truth about everyone," he smirked, "I know where Amy Pond's heart lies..." he cast a look at Amy, "Don't I?"

"Shut up! Just shut up and leave me alone," Amy frantically gave the order..

"But listen, you're in there. Loves a redhead, the Doctor!" the Dream Lord chuckled then feigned serious, "Oh but _which_ redhead, am I right? Could be you...or could be a precise redhead you've been jealous of lately."

Amy stiffened, something that didn't go past the others, "Shut up," she gritted her teeth.

"Drop it. Drop all of it," the Doctor cut in, "I know who you are."

"Course you don't," the Dream Lord tested.

"Course I do. No idea how you can be here, but there's only one person in the universe who hates me as much as you do."

"Never mind me! Maybe you _should_ worry about them," the Dream Lord nodded to the now advancing elderly villagers.

"Hi," Rory awkwardly waved at them.

"Hello. We were wondering where you went," the Doctor was also slightly nervous, "To get reinforcements! Are you all right? You look a bit tense."

"Hello, Mr Nainby!" Rory greeted one of the villagers more closely.

"Rory..." the Doctor wearily looked over.

"Mr Nainby ran the sweet shop. He used to slip me the odd free toffee," Rory barely got to explain when the man lifted him by the collar, "Did I not say thank you?" Rory gasped and was thrown backwards into the mud, "How did he do that?" Rory jumped to his feet with a frown and cleaned himself up.

"I suspect he's not himself..."

Avalon scoffed loudly. "You think!? This was not happening yesterday!" but then she paused and thought out loud. " _Was_ there even a yesterday?"

"Don't get comfortable here," the Doctor warned the thoughtful ginger. "You may have to run. Fast."

"Well can't we just talk to them?" Lena dared to hope, "They're all so sweet...I used to bake for them! Or did I?"

The elderly group opened their mouths to reveal an eye inside their mouths. Avalon pulled Lena behind her and gaped, "They have a frikin _eye_ in their mouths!"

The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver and scanned the elderly, "There's a whole _creature_ inside her," he'd scanned Mrs. Poggit as an example, "Inside all of them. They've been there for years, living and waiting."

"That is disgusting," Amy crinkled her nose, "They're not going to be peeping out of anywhere else are they?"

Mrs. Poggit leaned forwards and shot out a green mist towards the group. The Doctor put himself in front of the group, "RUN!" he ordered them and the five split in pairs and rushed off, "OK, Leave them. Talk to me. Talk to me," he held his hands in surrender, "You are Eknodines, a proud, ancient race - you're better than this. Why are you hiding away here? Why aren't you at home?"

Mrs. Poggit began to answer, "We were driven from our pl..."

"…Planet by upstart neighbors," went another of the elderly. And afterwards, the others began to chime in the explanation.

"So we've..."

"…Been living here inside the bodies of old humans for...years. No wonder they live so long, you're keeping them alive."

"We were humbled and destroyed. Now we will do the same to others."

"OK, makes sense, I suppose. Credible enough, could be real," the Doctor considered.

As a man in a bicycle rode past them and Mrs. Poggit shot her green mist at him, making him turn to dust.

The Doctor glared at the woman, "You need to leave this planet," he ordered.

~ 0 ~

"We need to get back to the others!" Lena panted as she and Avalon stopped at a corner of a street.

"Lena, if you haven't noticed, we're being attacked by old people!" Avalon peered around the corner and saw the coast was clear to continue.

"But we just left the Doctor!" Lena frowned, "And our _pregnant_ friend and your best friend. We don't do that!"

"We unintentionally split up, big deal," Avalon shrugged, "We can probably make it back to your place quicker than Rory's..."

"Avalon, we can't leave them. We're stronger together."

Avalon gave her a mock-scold, "That's so cliche."

"But it's true. If we fall asleep, then who's going to help us?"

"Well...I am..." she straightened up, "...just like always. I'll get us out of this, don't you worry," she set her hands on Lena's shoulders, "You don't worry about a thing."

Lena took off Avalon's hands and sighed, "Avalon, you and I both know this is the dream."

"What? Why would you think that?" there was a quick flash of fear in Avalon's eyes but she pushed it away.

"Because I'm healthy, I'm married, and you're...not. You have a suckish life because of me."

"Don't say that," Avalon waved her off and peered again.

"That's what the Doctor says but I'm not gonna just pretend that it's alright for you. In this life you have no one to live with. You don't love and you don't allow anyone to love you."

"That's good, then," Avalon meaningfully looked at her twin, "Cos then I get to look after you."

"But that's not fair," Lena shook her hands in frustration, Avalon's face falling with confusion, "I don't want my twin never to have her own life. I need you to start living your own-"

"Watch out!" Avalon yanked Lena out of the spot they were in as one of the elderly shot their mist towards them, "Now...run!"

~ 0 ~

The entire group, now together, awoke in the TARDIS with iced bits forming all around. Lena shivered and clutched her blanket closer, "Ah, it's colder."

"The five of us have to agree, now, which is the dream," the Doctor declared and buttoned up his jacket.

"It's this one," Rory and Avalon answered immediately.

"They could be right," Amy tried to consider the complete unreasonable, "The science is all wrong here, burning ice?"

"No, no, no ice can burn, sofas can read, it's a big universe. We have to agree which battle to lose. All of us, now."

"OK, which world do _you_ think is real?" Amy asked the Doctor. If there was someone who probably knew his way around reality and a dream it had to be him...right?

"This one," the Doctor said after taking a good look around the console.

"No, the other one!" Rory exclaimed.

"Yeah, but are we disagreeing, or competing?" the Doctor threw him a challenging look.

"Competing over _what_ do I dread to ask?" Avalon sighed. Oh, she knew Rory and she knew when the man was jealous...and that was it right now.

"Nine minutes till impact," the Doctor said as they stood up.

"What temperature is it?" Amy inquired.

"Outside? Brrrr. How many noughts have you got? Inside?" the Doctor couldn't even think of proper words at the moment from his confusion. "I don't know but I can't feel my feet and... other parts."

"I think all my parts are basically fine," Rory muttered.

"Stop competing!" the Doctor snapped.

"Can't we call for help?" Rory held out the phone.

"Yeah, the universe is really small - bound to be someone nearby!" the Doctor took the phone and tapped Rory on the head before he hung up.

"Oh shut up and put these on," Avalon rolled her eyes and chucked blankets to the two men and Amy, Lena and her already bundled up as much as possible, "Idiots, the both of you."

"Oh, a poncho. The biggest crime against fashion since lederhosen," Rory mumbled.

"Well for the man in the ponytail and the other in the bow tie, I say it's a step up," Avalon shrugged, earning himself some rather hard looks from both men in question.

"Oh right," Amy looked at everyone's choice of clothing, "Ponchos...because if we're going to die then we should definitely do it while looking like a Peruvian folk band."

"I call drums!" Lena raised her hand.

"We're not going to die," Rory shook his head.

"No, we're not," the Doctor checked his watch, "But our time's running out. If we fall asleep here, we're in trouble. If we could divide up, then we'd have an active presence in each world, but the Dream Lord is switching us between the worlds. Why, why, what's the logic?"

The Dream Lord suddenly appeared beside the Doctor, wearing his own poncho, "Good idea, veggie, let's divide you five up, so I can have a little chat with our lovely companion," he glanced at Amy, "Maybe I'll keep her, and you-" he nodded to the Doctor, "-can have Pointy Nose, Sicky girl and the Feisty redhead all to yourself for all eternity, should you manage to clamber aboard some sort of reality."

The birdsong began and everyone, except for Amy, started being effected by it.

"Can you hear that?" Rory was the first to notice the calm ginger.

"What? No," Amy shook her head.

"Amy, don't be scared, we'll be back," the Doctor assured before they fell to the floor, asleep.

"Rory, Doctor, don't leave me!" Amy looked at her friends, unconscious.

"Amy, we're going to have fun aren't we?" the Dream Lord smirked.

"No, please, not alone," Amy looked at the twins that were also fast asleep.

~ 0 ~

As soon as Rory had gotten Amy up into the second level of their cottage, their future baby's room, Rory heard a small yelp from below. He rushed to the window and saw Lena trying to make her way into the front yard.

"Rory!" she shouted, "Help me! Please!" she stopped below the window.

"Where is Ava!?" he frantically looked around the place.

"Rory!" Lena nearly cried in terror.

Rory looked around for something to help pull the brunette woman up, his mind wondering to where that other ginger had gotten herself to.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor awoke inside the freezer he'd hidden himself in and listened at the door. He could hear the aliens on the other screeching their mouths and so took out his screwdriver. But before he could do what he was about to he heard a sort of...blast?

Avalon lowered her gun and breathed, "You can come out, fairy tale man," she called, "It's safe...for now," she looked out the butcher shop's windows.

The door was opened and out came the Doctor, confused to see the elderly on the floor, "Did you just..."

"They've been stunted, but not for long," she leaned to the side to get view of the room he'd come out from. "Freezer?" she smirked. "Mum says when I was little I used to hide inside the refrigerator. There's a little trivia for you!" she then hurried to the front door. "Hurry up! I had to leave Lena to come get you!"

"Where did you get that from!?" he trailed after her. "And what do you mean you hid in a fridge? Who does that!?"

"Well, if this is the dream then does it really matter?" she snapped as they ran out the yard. "And I'll have you know that only a really thoughtful child would think of hiding in a fridge!"

"You accept this is the dream, then?" he raised an eyebrow and she stopped, a bit solemn.

"This could be the real world, you know..." she took a shaky breath, "...my sister can be healthy and can have a very nice life."

"And you? What about _your_ life? Is this the life you want?"

"I frankly don't care how I end up," she said, serious, then continued to run, "What does it matter how I end up?"

"It _matters_ to all your family and friends!" the Doctor meant to argue with her but they came across a man in a van who was being attacked by one of the elderly.

"You couldn't live near the shops, could you?" the Doctor sighed and pushed the pensioner away, Avalon using her gun to stunt him. "It's okay, it's only me."

"Oh no, you can't drive your own box, I am _not_ letting you drive this thing," Avalon shook her head.

"Wasn't asking," he pushed her inside and took the driver's seat.

He drove through the village and saw two more people, two women, being surrounded by more of the elderly. The man they'd rescued slid the van's back door open with the Doctor calling after them, "Get in, get in, get in. Quickly, quickly, over here. Quickly, come on, jump in. Quick get in now, quickly. Hurry up," as soon as the women climbed inside, the man shut the door closed, " Are we in?"

"Doctor, there's more!" Avalon pointed to a young family. She stuck her gun out the window and...

"Avalon, don't you-"

She'd fired at the pensioners and knocked them down, "Hurry up!" she called to the family then looked at the Doctor with an innocent look, "I'm sorry, what?"

~ 0 ~

The Dream Lord appeared beside Amy who sat on the last step of the staircase. "Poor Amy. He always leaves you, doesn't he? Alone in the dark. Never apologizes."

"He doesn't have to," she got up and walked away.

"That's good, because he never will. And now he's left you with me. Spooky old, not-to-be-trusted me," the Dream Lord disappeared to reappear on a chair, changed into a robe that revealed a good part of his chest, "Anything could happen."

Amy frowned, "Who are you and what do you want? The Doctor knows you, but he's not telling me who you are. And he always does. Takes him awhile sometimes, but he tells me. So you're something different."

"Oh, is that who you think you are? The one he trusts?" there was a look of amusement on the man's face that didn't sit well with Amy.

"Actually, yes," she crossed her arms, doing her best to look convincing.

"The one girl in the universe to whom the Doctor tells everything?"

"Yes."

"Not even a little doubt that it could be another woman...perhaps a feisty redhead?"

Amy knew what he was talking about and rolled her eyes, "Shut up!"

The Dream Lord disappeared and reappeared beside the Doctor, now dressed in his tweed again, "Now, which one of these men would you really choose? Look at them. You ran away with a handsome hero. Would you really give him up for a bumbling country doctor who thinks the only thing he needs to be interesting is a ponytail?"

"Stop it!"

"But maybe it's better than loving and losing the Doctor. Oh, but there's a little problem, isn't there?" the Dream Lord held his two fingers to show the small amount he spoke about, "And her name starts with 'A' and ends with 'valon'," he smirked.

"Shut up!" Amy nearly pleaded.

"Tsk, tsk, there's a lot of things that haven't been said..." the Dream Lord moved around to Avalon, "...how's about we get that fixed?" he snapped his fingers.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor had pulled the bus in front of a church, he and Avalon rushing out to help the big group of people they'd rescued.

"Everybody, out, out out! Into the church, that's right. Don't answer the door," the Doctor called and was about to help Avalon back inside when the ginger stiffened and froze, "Avalon? What? What is it?"

She looked back with a horrified look, "You don't hear it?" she turned completely and looked around.

"Hear what?" he sighed, already knowing.

"Stupid...birds..." she fell forwards and was caught by the Doctor before she hit the ground.

"Avalon? Avalon!" he shook her but the ginger remained fast asleep.

~ 0 ~

Avalon sat up with a gasp as she took in the console which was now greatly covered with ice, including herself. "What the hell!?"

She noticed Amy standing not too far from her feet, looking a tad worrisome and...nervous?

"Amy, what's going on?" Avalon pushed herself up and gave the second ginger a pointed look, "I was the only one who heard the birdsong and I just left the Doctor on his own...with my body!"

"Oh, add more to the dilemma," the Dream Lord appeared beside her and made her jump. He glanced at Amy with a smirk, "It's like she does this on purpose, right?"

"What is this prick talking about?" Avalon demanded from her friend, "Amy?" she called but the ginger turned away from her.

"Nothing..." came Amy's quiet little response.

"Now, now, I brought in the girl for you to get it all out in the air," the Dream Lord reminded, "Let's not waste time, girls. After all, we only have short minutes until crash time," he pointed to the doors.

"If you don't get the hell out of here I might just beat you up," Avalon muttered. She moved to her friends and saw them also nearly covered up in icy. She bent down beside Rory and fixed his poncho a bit. Amy watched the gesture in silence, for the first time not angry but...curious. "Whatever you're going to ask, just ask," Avalon said without looking back, "The little prick turned out to also be a coward," she glanced up and saw that the Dream Lord was indeed gone. She moved on to take some of the ice bits from Lena.

"...are you...are you still angry with me for kissing the Doctor?" Amy knew it was a faraway question from what really nogged at her head but it was the starting point.

"Honestly?" Avalon glanced back and thought for a minute, "No," she stood up and faced Amy, "I'm not. Cos now I realize that it happened for the best. It's made you reconsider your feelings for Rory and I couldn't be happier for that."

"What? Why!?" Amy frowned, "Because _you_ want him?"

"No," Avalon responded, "Because you've never shown any respect for Rory in your relationship," as Amy opened her mouth to refute that, Avalon cut her off by continuing rather fast, "Rory _loves_ you and sometimes I think...you don't love him back because your mind is clogged with the Doctor."

There, Amy had to counter. " _Me_? Are you kidding me!? I'm not the one who idolized him like some prince in a fairytale! That was always _you_!"

Avalon blushed but did not give in. "So then trust me when I tell you that I understand what it feels like to be _wowed_ by all this," she made a gesture to the room. "I've learned the stories about the Doctor ever since I was kid, even before I could talk! And to finally see it...with my own eyes...you get... _dazzled_ ," she smiled as she recalled the Doctor's earlier justification for Amy's incident after the Angels. Now that Avalon was thinking far clearer, she could understand what he meant. "So I get it, you're wowed by the alien but...Rory has _always_ been there for you and you've never even realized it. You take him for granted and I don't think it's fair. By you kissing the Doctor it's made you reconsider your feelings and either two very good things will come out of this: you realize how incredible Rory is and finally commit to an actual relationship or you realize you don't love him like he deserves and so you set him free so he can find a woman who'll love him for real."

Amy felt hurt by those words, hurt that Avalon _thought_ that, and...that it was _true_. She hadn't considered it like that. Her focus had been on the travels and wonders...and her jealousy. She hadn't stop to think about Rory...

"Oh come now, Amy, you're not going to ask?" the Dream Lord appeared beside her, "Go on...demand..."

" _Demand_?" Avalon raised an eyebrow at him, "Demand _what_?"

"Nothing," Amy said at the same time the man beside her answered, 'Whether you have feelings for her Rory'.

"What!?" Avalon nearly stumbled back at the question.

"Shut up!" Amy turned to the Dream Lord, furious, "Go away!"

"Amy, _why_ did he say that?" Avalon demanded.

"Why do you think, red?" the Dream Lord flashed a smirk, "So...what's the answer?"

"That's the stupidest question I've ever heard!"

"You're always near him," Amy remarked, stunning Avalon that she was actually going along with the Dream Lord.

"Amy! You're not serious!?"

"You're always touching and hugging and joking," Amy continued, stepping forwards. It was hard to be sure when Avalon refused to answer properly.

"Because we're best friends!"

"But he's my boyfriend, always has been!"

"We were best friends _first_!" Avalon reminded, " _I_ met him first and _I_ introduced him to _you_! Of course we're closer because he was my friend _first_. Do you realize how ridiculous you and all this sounds right now?"

"THEN ANSWER THE QUESTION!" Amy shouted.

"NO!" Avalon shouted right back, "I _don't_ have feelings for him!"

"Then why are you so close to him?" Amy asked, more quiet now, "Sometimes...it's like...you forget that you have more friends than just him. You cry to him, you talk to him..."

"Because out of everyone we've ever known, he is the only person who has stuck with me throughout everything," Avalon spat with a shaky voice and watery eyes.

Amy froze at the unusual sight. Amy had never seen Avalon this emotional since...well, since her mother had died. And even then she'd seen Avalon cry once or maybe twice. _This_ is what she meant, though. Rory was always the one person to get through to Avalon, the only person she'd ever talk about how she actually felt. Why? Why him?

"I've been to jail and even juvee numerous times and throughout that Rory is the only one who didn't leave me," Avalon swallowed.

"What are you talking about? I've always been there for you," Amy frowned, "Lena, your father, your brother, Mels...we've all been there."

"No, not like Rory has," Avalon shook her head, "He always bailed me out, no questions no lectures like my family, no scolds from you and no praises like Mels. He got me out and he _talked_ to me. He would find out why I did it and helped me. There's a reason he's my best friend, Amy. Rory never cared that I was always getting into trouble, he was never afraid of me like you were, he was just...a friend. That's what he is to me today, a friend...a brother. I love him, yes, but as a _brother_."

"Avalon...I...I'm sorry," Amy felt like she couldn't say more than that. She'd always had a little doubt that Avalon may have harbored some feelings for Rory because of their close relationship...but she'd been wrong apparently. Now she felt guilty.

"I hope that if that was your reason for taking Rory for granted you've realized your mistake," Avalon wiped her face clean before she actually cried, "Now you little prick, COME BACK!" she looked around for the missing man with anger, "You nearly ruined a friendship so come back and wake us up!"

"Oh, but what about this one?" the Dream Lord obeyed and appeared, beside the Doctor, "Are we not going to talk about this one?" he gestured down to the unconscious alien.

"Actually, yes, wake me up so I can see that he hasn't dropped me on the ground!" Avalon turned to the man, "If he treats me like that sonic of his I'm bound to have a broken arm by now! Plus, Amy should think on her own for a moment. She's got a good decision to make."

"It's not over until _I_ say it's over," the Dream Lord declared in a huff.

"I didn't ask if it was over, I gave an order," Avalon snapped.

"You know Amy hasn't only thought of you and Rory but also with..." the Dream Lord swayed his head with a small smile.

Avalon stiffened, "Don't you dare..."

"A certain alien..."

" _Don't_..."

"With floppy hair and a bow tie."

"AMY!" Avalon spun to the woman.

"I'm sorry!" Amy turned to the side with a hand in her hair, actually embarrassed this time. "But...but c'mon!"

"Well, I mean, in her defense, he does find you intriguing," the Dream Lord cut in.

"What?" went both Amy and Avalon, the latter blushing again.

"I'm being completely serious," but it was easy to see that the Dream Lord was having some fun with them. "He thinks you're intriguing. There's something that doesn't add up about you."

Avalon looked at him for a moment then narrowed her eyes, "Wake us up, _now_. We're not going to let you divide us again. Wake us up!"

"As you wish," the Dream Lord snapped his fingers and, thankfully, the two ginger women started falling asleep.

~ 0 ~

As the Doctor had finally reached the cottage of the Ponds, he heard Avalon fussing in her seat, "Oh, nice of you to join us again," he joked.

"Oh shut up," she pushed him away rather harshly enough for him to dread what the Dream Lord did to her and Amy. With a look set straight ahead, Avalon examined their surroundings. They were coming back to Amy and Rory's cottage. "Trouble, I see," she spotted a group of the elderly already coming for the cottage. "We can go through the backdoor, c'mon."

"Wait, what happened back there?" he followed her out of the van, unaware that some of the elderly had spotted them, "Are you and Amy alright? Did the Dream-" he tried to grab her arm but she snapped away and stared at him.

"You never tell us anything," she said, as if just realizing it herself. The Dream Lord's words, like it not, were affecting her. "You say all these words but you never tell us what you _think_..."

"I don't...I don't understand..." the Doctor felt like there was trouble coming from her but with those cryptic words he wasn't sure how to prepare. "What happened? Tell me."

"No, _you_ tell _me_ ," she jabbed a finger on his chest. "You know all about _us_ but what do we really know about _you_ , Doctor? To me you're a billion stories...but maybe that's enough anymore."

"Avalon, I can't tell if you're mad or-," the Doctor frowned.

"I don't even know-" Avalon was in the middle of admitting when she saw the elderly behind him. "Watch out!" she shoved the Doctor to the side and took the blow of the green mist.

"Avalon!" the Doctor jumped back on his feet, horrified to see the ginger woman stumble back.

She turned to face him once more with teary eyes, raising her hands to see them begin dissolving, "This can still be real life, you know. I'd be okay with that. Take care of Lena, please," and she dissolved into a pile of dust.

~ 0 ~

Lena, Rory and Amy were inside the cottage in the nursery room, simply waiting for something, or someones, to come and tell them what the hell they should do next. They gasped at the sound of a squeak but calmed once they saw the Doctor clambering through the open window.

It's all right, it's just me," he mumbled and fell to the floor.

"What are we going to do?" Amy frantically asked, missing a clear problem that Rory and Lena hadn't.

"Doctor, where's Avalon?" Lena stepped closer, trying to peer around as if Avalon was just hiding behind the man.

The Doctor couldn't really look Lena in the eye and tell her, her twin was...dead. More so, he couldn't tell her Avalon died saving him because he hadn't been paying attention.

"Where is she?" Rory stood up from Amy's side, "Lena said Avalon went to go and help you, now where is she?"

"Big brother?" Lena's voice broke, her eyes watering up as she took a step forwards.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor shook his head, "I didn't see one of them, and...and she did...and...well..."

"Noooo," Lena whimpered, "No, don't say that...please don't."

"Lena, I'm so sorry," the Doctor moved to hug her when a small stone statue broke through one of the closed windows and hit the ground.

"Why are they so desperate to kill us?" Amy exclaimed, her own eyes teary from the news.

"They're scared. Fear generates savagery," the Doctor said, still holding Lena.

Rory rushed to the window to see and found Mrs. Poggit right on the other side. She shot the green mist before he could even blink and was sent back with a groan, much like Avalon had.

Through her hug, Lena saw it all and gasped, "Rory!"

"No, no, no," Amy moved to his side while the Doctor hurried and knocked Mrs. Poggit off the roof.

"No! I'm not ready," Rory looked at his hands that started dissolving.

"Stay," Amy sniffled.

"Look after our baby," Rory said before he dissolved completely.

"No. No. Come back," Amy blinked tears as she stared at the pile of dust in front of her.

"Not him too!" Lena burst into sobs and hugged the Doctor again.

Amy looked up with red eyes that nearly matched her hair, "Save him," she ordered the Doctor quietly, "You save everyone. You always do. It's what you do."

"Not always. I'm sorry," he sighed.

"Then what is the _point_ of you?" she touched the dust then stood up with the help of a bureau. She stayed silent for a moment, the only sound managing to distract her was the crying of Lena.

"Lena, you said this was the dream, right?" she asked, her voice shaky.

"It is, I know it is," Lena nodded and parted from her hug.

Amy looked at the Doctor and gave a nod, "Then this is it," she agreed, "This is the dream. Definitely, this one. Now, if we die here, we wake up, yeah?"

"Unless we just die," he felt the need to remind both women.

"Either way, this is my only chance of seeing him again," Amy said, "This is the dream."

"How do you know?"

"Because if this is real life, I _don't_ want it. I don't want it." Suddenly all of Avalon's words came rushing back to Amy's mind. Avalon had been right - she'd been taking Rory for granted and now that he was gone was when she understood.

"And Lena...?" the Doctor glanced at the brunette.

Lena was wiping her face dry, "I wanted Avalon to have a life without me. If she's dead then I don't want this," she took off her wedding ring and chucked it out the window, "This life is nothing without my twin."

The Doctor looked between both determined women and simply nodded.

~ 0 ~

The trio walked out of the house like nothing as the elderly stood still.

"Why aren't they attacking?" Lena glanced back in confusion.

"Either because this is just a dream, or because they know what we're about to do," the Doctor replied. They stopped in front of the bus and looked at each other, "Now I have to say it again, are you _sure_ of what we're about to do? This could be the real world."

"It can't be. Rory isn't here," Amy shook her head, "I didn't know. I didn't, I didn't, I honestly didn't, till right now. I just want _him_. I do love him," she nodded. "Lena?"

"I don't deserve this life," she sniffled, "I just want to be with my sister. And if it's the real world, then..." she swallowed, managing to smile a little, "...then I'll be with her and my mum."

"Okay," the Doctor nodded and handed the keys to Amy, "Here we go."

Amy went around to the driver's seat while the Doctor held the passenger door for Lena, stepping in himself and ignoring the presence of the Dream Lord.

"I love Rory, and I never told him, but now he's gone," Amy turned the ignition on and drove off...

~ 0 ~

Inside the TARDIS, everything was completely covered in a thick layer of ice, including its five inhabitants on the floor. The Doctor was the first to open his eyes and as soon as he did he looked both ways to find one pointy-nose man and a feisty redhead.

The Dream Lord appeared on the other side of the room with a 'polite' smile, "So...you chose this world. Well done. You got it right. And with only seconds left. Fair's fair. Let's warm you up," he flicked his fingers and restored the box's power, "I hope you've enjoyed your little fictions. It all came out of your imagination, so I'll leave you to ponder on that. I have been defeated. I shall withdraw. Farewell."

As soon as he disappeared, the Doctor rose up to his feet and started working on the controls. Amy had held Rory's hand from the moment she'd woken up and practically refused to let go.

"Something happened," Rory and Avalon simultaneously said and looked at each other, "What happened to you?" they asked each other with pointed fingers in their directions.

"Oh come here!" Lena attacked Avalon with a big hug.

"Ah!" the ginger nearly fell back, "What happened?" she looked over Lena's shoulder to Rory and Amy.

However, Rory didn't have much time to answer because Amy also took him in a hug, "This is good," he focused instead, making Avalon roll her eyes behind him, "I am liking this. Was it something I said?" Amy parted and took a good look of him, "Can you tell me what it was so I can use it in emergencies? And maybe birthdays."

"Okay, Lena, what happened?" Avalon pulled away from her twin and raised an eyebrow.

The sound of the TARDIS finally starting up cut in both conversations. The pairs stood up and glanced at the Doctor with confused looks.

"What are we doing now?" Lena asked him.

"Me, I'm going to blow up the TARDIS, little sister," he said casually.

" _What_?" Avalon's eyes widened.

"Notice how helpful the Dream Lord was?"

"Um, your definition of 'helpful' is different from ours apparently," Avalon shot him a look.

The Doctor amended his terrible question. "Okay, there was misinformation, red herrings, malice, and I could have done without the limerick, but he was always very keen to make us choose between dream and reality," he laughed.

"What are you doing!?" Amy exclaimed in horror.

"The Dream Lord conceded. This isn't the dream!" Rory reminded.

"Yes, it is!" the Doctor pointed, "Star burning cold. Do me a favor! The Dream Lord has no power over the real world. He was offering us a choice between two dreams."

"And _how_ do you know that?" Avalon crossed her arms.

"Because I know who he is," he flicked a lever and the room went black.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor leaned against the console and stared at a few particles in his hand. He couldn't believe these were responsible for all that had happened in the day. "Any questions?" he called to the group that were joining him in the all-normal console room.

"What's that?" Lena pointed to his hand.

The Doctor let the others see several glittering bits in his palm, "A speck of psychic pollen from the candle meadows of Karass don Slava. Must have been hanging around for ages. Fell in the time rotor, heated up and induced a dream state for all of us," he went over to the doors and opened them up, blowing the particles into space.

"So that was the Dream Lord then, those little specks?" Rory asked as the alien returned to them.

"No, no. No. Sorry, wasn't it obvious?" the Doctor stopped in front of them. "The Dream Lord was me. Psychic pollen, it's a mind parasite. It feeds on everything dark in you. Gives it a voice, turns it against you. I'm 907. It had a lot to go on."

"I kept calling him a prick..." Avalon rethought and sheepishly smiled, "...sorry."

The Doctor mock-glared at her and chose to ignore her for the sake of a happy ending.

"So why didn't it feed on us, too?" Lena asked.

"Darkness in you, baby sister? Ha!" he laughed, "It would've starved to death in an instant"

"I can...have dark secrets..." she played with her foot.

"Nah, I choose my friends with great care," the Doctor continued, believing it to be a joke, "Otherwise I'm stuck with my own company, and you know how that works out."

"But those things he said about you, though," Avalon quietly said, becoming serious, "You don't...you don't think any of that's true?"

It was the Doctor's turn to shift around with uneasiness. He glanced at Amy and Rory instead, focusing on them, "Amy! Good ole Amy," he moved over and set his hands on her shoulders, "A question is about to occur to Rory," he spun her to face Rory, "And seeing as the answer is about to change his life, I think you should give him your full attention," he pushed the ginger towards Rory then took the twins and walked them to the other side of the console.

"Yeah. Actually, yeah," Rory admitted.

"There it is," the Doctor pointed.

"Cos what I don't get is you blew up the TARDIS, that stopped that dream," Rory glanced at him, "But what stopped the Leadworth dream?"

"Yeah, I want to know that too," Avalon spoke up and looked at anyone for the answer.

"We crashed the camper van," Amy answered finally.

"Oh..." Avalon looked at Lena and whispered, "I don't remember that."

"I don't remember that bit," Rory agreed.

"No, you weren't there, you were already..." Amy struggled to get the words out, even looking at the other two behind that'd survived the dream for help.

"Already what?" Avalon asked, "C'mon!"

"Dead," Amy took a breath in, "Rory, you died in that dream. Mrs Poggit got you."

"OK. But how did you know it was a dream?" Rory questioned, "Before you crashed the van, how did you know you wouldn't just die?"

"We didn't..."

"Oh..." Rory realized what it meant, the chance they took.

"Yeah," Amy awkwardly shifted on her feet, her hand rubbing her arm while she waited for Rory to come up with something else. Unfortunately, that didn't quite happen.

"Oh."

"Yeah, 'Oh.'"

Rory stared at Amy for a bit and smiled. He then leaned in and gave her a kiss. After a moment or two, Amy gave back another, deep kiss.

"So..." the Doctor clapped his hands, "Well, then, where now? Or should I just pop down to the swimming pool for a few lengths?"

"Oh, you found the swimming pool?" Avalon made a face before shaking her head and focus. "Someone needs to explain what happened to _me_. Cos I know for a fact I didn't turn into pixie dust...unfortunately," she added a second later with a pout, "...cos that would be so cool."

"You died, Avalon," Lena said quietly, "Before Rory, you died."

"You died pushing me out of the way," the Doctor further explained, not too proud of it either, "Shouldn't have done that."

"My turn to save _you_ ," Avalon softly smiled at him.

"But don't ever do that again!" Lena exclaimed and attacked her with another a hug, "Please, please, please, please don't ever die again!"

Avalon chuckled and patted her back, "I'll try not to."

"I'd rather be sick and weak but have you in my life then none at all," Lena looked up with a small frown.

"I would have it the other way around," Avalon sighed.

"I don't deserve that..." Lena mumbled, a flash of a guilt on her face for a second. Avalon deserved a sister who was _honest_...

"Let's not get all sad, everyone's okay," the Doctor exclaimed, "How's about we all go for a nice little trip, eh?"

Everyone nodded and so he started the controls of the console. On a chance, he saw a reflection below and instead of seeing himself...he saw the Dream Lord. He quickly looked away nervously. When he looked back at the reflection he saw his own. _Thank god_.

~ 0 ~

Much later - actually very late if one kept track of the actual hour - the Doctor found that half of his companions were yet to be asleep. Avalon and Rory were sitting on the floor playing cards in the media room. And judging by the big smirk on Avalon's face, the Doctor assumed she was either winning or about to be.

"Read 'em and weep Mr. Williams," the ginger happily placed down her cards on the table, revealing a flush. Rory groaned and let his cards drop over his lap while Avalon laughed. "You now owe me one bottle of scotch."

"In your dreams," Rory snorted and started collecting the cards from his lap.

Avalon smirked in response and then saw the Doctor coming up to them. "You play?" she inquired.

"Sometimes," he gave a casual shrug. "I thought you would be asleep by now." He could tell Rory was close to doing just that but was fighting it for some reason.

"I have insomnia, remember?" Avalon countered. "It's not that easy of a job for me. Rory wanted to stay up until I got tired, but..." she too noticed poor Rory losing the fight against sleep.

"I think we should call it a night," Rory gave in and got up from the floor.

"Yeah, alright," Avalon did the same and took the cards from him, forming a neat stack to put back in the proper box. Rory bid a goodnight to her and the Doctor before leaving. Avalon sighed and start putting the cards back inside the box.

"You know, if you're having trouble sleeping I could always give you something to help," the Doctor offered after seeing her dejected face.

However, almost as soon as he had offered he saw a brief look of terror in Avalon's eyes. "N-no, I'm o-okay," she quickly got up from her spot on the floor. "I'll just...I'll just go entertain myself somewhere else. Maybe find that bottle of scotch."

"Oh no you don't!" the Doctor quickly blocked the way, even holding his arms on either side of him like he could just cover the entire room.

Avalon raised an eyebrow at him, clearly amused. "So...apart from fairytale man you're also a night nanny?"

The Doctor's face contorted into offence. "No! I'm not a...nanny," he spat the word and made her laugh. "But I do like to keep a 'no drinking before bed' rule and you'll have to follow it."

Avalon sobered from her laugh slowly. "You've never had some good drinks before bed, then?"

"Nope," the Doctor replied rather proudly and lowered his arms.

"Not even a tiny bit?"

"Not even a tiny bit."

"Not even in secret?"

"Secret from who?"

Avalon's eyes looked around the room, puzzled herself. "Well...I don't know. Whoever lived here with you before you found us I suppose." As she said the words she met the Doctor's eyes and saw terrible sadness in them. It was weird to see the expressions change within the second. "Say...who _did_ used to live here before us?"

"...I thought you knew all about me," the Doctor had said about two minutes after complete silence. Avalon knew he was trying to get her away from the topic she'd suddenly flung on him. "Guess you don't," the Doctor said with a fake smirk.

"I do know," Avalon insisted lightly. "But if you're 908 then, really, I'm guessing there's a lot of things I don't know. I know a fairytale man, but...who _is_ the Doctor?"

"Dangerous question," the Doctor warned and this time had a true smirk across his face.

Avalon leaned forwards, not one to give up so easily, "I like dangerous."

The Doctor's smirk widened for a moment. "Not _my_ kind." Avalon simply raised her eyebrows, challenging him of course, but the Doctor didn't like where this was going. He didn't think he could bring himself to reveal all the horrible things he'd done before meeting her and the others. The 'fairy tale man' view would be destroyed. "Goodnight, Avalon."

Avalon swayed her head, dramatically groaning. "You win this round." The Doctor then stepped aside and motioned her kindly that she should go to sleep. Avalon seemingly walked out of the room, and missed the Doctor's deeply sighing. However, she startled him when she called to him. She had her head poking inside the room, and before the Doctor could tell her to go she piped up, "About the whole Dream Lord thing...I don't know why you would ever think those horrible things about yourself. I mean...yeah, you've probably had some dark times, but...you come back from it. And I think that's the part you should focus on." With cheery smile she made her way to her room.

She missed the Doctor's soft smile after her.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** This was one of my favorite chapters from beginning to end! We've got some clarification on Avalon's & Rory's close relationship which is, in every way, _platonic_ Amy . We also got some insight on the Doctor's thoughts about Avalon (what could they mean though hmm), and finally some realization in Avalon that the Doctor really is just more than stories. That's going to carry over in the next chapter ;)

 **For the Review:**

 **TheGirlWhoWept** : Poor Mark indeed...never get on Avalon's bad side lmao. Of course it's okay! I'm happy that you do because it's my goal xD. You keep shipping!


	8. Death's Song

**A/N: Disclaimer: This chapter's plotline is from Doctor Who's comic stories. In this case the selected comic story is 'the Screams of Death'. While the dialogue is made up, it is drawn from the comic story's summaries and descriptions. The plot is NOT mine.**

* * *

A lively city was none the wiser of a small, blue box materializing in one of their streets. With the dark, starry night above, its bright shade of blue had no chance of shining as it usually tended to. The doors were opened up, and out came Lena Reynolds, donning a beautiful pink-shaded period gown. Being the mid 19th century, it was squared at the neckline and a bit puffy at the shoulders. It fitted Lena.

"Very...19th century," Lena said after taking a brief look at their surroundings.

"Is that good or bad?" the Doctor came out afterwards.

Amy poked her head outside with a smirk on her face. "That's her nice way of telling you she's not impressed."

"Amy!" Lena exclaimed, scandalized with the accusation that was clearly not true. "Big brother, I would never think - Amy!"

Amy had herself a good laugh as she came out, hands on her corseted stomach. "Sometimes, it's just too easy!"

"Do not be mean to my baby sister," the Doctor pointed a warning finger at her.

Amy mocked saluted him in return and moved forwards to examine the city. Finally, the last of their friends emerged from the TARDIS, with linked arms.

"PARIS!" Avalon dramatically waved her free arm at the city. "I can't believe it!"

"It's like your mothership," Rory sighed, unsurprised by her.

The Doctor glanced her way to agree with Rory but was momentarily taken away by her appearance. Unlike Lena who sported the soft pastel colors, and Amy who went TARDIS blue, Avalon went with what made her stand out: emerald green. Her fiery ginger locks perfectly contrasted with the short, dark green sleeves of her gown. There were lighter shades of green going around the skirt with bits of silver flowers adorning it. With a lazy u-shaped neckline, she gave view of her matching green and silver looping necklace. Around her hair was a resembling headband that was tied into a bow at her lower left to keep the hair out from her face.

"I thought we agreed on the yellow dress," Lena's voice pulled the Doctor from his momentary stupor (something for which he silently questioned himself about).

Avalon smirked. "I found one I liked even more."

Amy scoffed. "Meaning you went looking for another one, then. And hey-" she clapped her hands, "-hands off my fiancee, please."

Avalon playfully rolled her eyes as she let go of Rory's arm, the man unable to keep his smug smile off his face. "Fine." She reached back and closed the TARDIS doors, then letting the box lock itself up.

"Where are we going?" Lena asked curiously.

"I thought you might like to see Orphée in one of its best performances," the Doctor replied, but only two understood him so far.

"You're taking us to an opera?" Rory's disappointment was evident as he crinkled his nose. "I didn't take you to be an opera guy."

"Why not?" the Doctor's eyes narrowed a bit.

"You can't sit still for five minutes."

Amy and Avalon snickered.

The Doctor, completely unamused, straightened his jacket and sternly refuted Rory's accusation. "You don't know anything about me, Rory Williams."

"Damn right," came Avalon's bitter agreement, something that stopped the Doctor for a minute. He dared to look her way and was met with accusing eyes. It was clear that she was still endeavoring to learn more about him since he rarely spoke about himself.

"Big brother - the opera?" Lena made her own endeavor to keep the tense to a minimum low. "When's it starting?"

"Well, any moment, actually. Shall we go?" the Doctor asked from the rest, hoping Avalon would become enthralled with the opera idea again and leave things alone with him. Fortunately, she was.

"Please tell me we get good seats! I want to see everything!" she came up to him excitedly.

"What else is psychic paper for?" he smirked.

"Lead the way, fairy-tale man."

The Doctor held his arm for her to take. Avalon linked her arm with his, and after getting Lena on his other side, he led the way to the famous opera waiting for them.

~ 0 ~

The opera stadium was full of guests, almost all from a higher class status. With the Doctor's psychic paper, the group had managed to snag one of the boxes above with a perfect view.

"Are you really going to manage sitting still?" Rory was still curious of whether or not the Doctor would be able to make it through a show without making so much of a peep. It would definitely be a sight to see.

The Doctor shushed Rory and pointed down to the state where the curtains were opening up. The main star of the show, a caramel-skinned woman with short, curly black hair showed incredible talent...at least that's what everyone except the Doctor thought. While the woman sang beautifully, and his companions were enthralled, the Doctor noticed how particularly slow the woman was blinking. Naturally, no one else would identify that as a trance state except anyone non-human. When the woman's angelic voice stopped, the entire audience clapped in her honor.

"She is just amazing!" Lena was one of those who clapped endlessly.

"I wish she could teach _me_ ," Avalon laughed, also clapping.

"Be careful what you wish for," the Doctor muttered, earning a small look from the ginger.

"What are you talking about?"

The Doctor decided not to waste time and suggested that they go backstage to meet the phenomenal opera singer. Of course the group obliged and hurried after him. With the psychic paper in hand, the Doctor showed it to one of the guards but at the same time, Rory spoke up.

"Uh, Doctor, isn't that her over there?' he was pointing to the opera singer indeed who was being ushered through the fans by an older man.

"Don't let her get away!" the Doctor broke into a run after them, leaving the group to wonder what was going on.

"I didn't think he liked her _that_ much," Lena blinked curiously.

"Is he really going to leave us behind?" Amy crossed her arms.

"Not if we don't let him!" Avalon hitched the side of her dress and made a run in the direction the Doctor went off in. She had a feeling this was something more than just a simple fan meeting a singer.

The Doctor had spotted the opera singer being pushed towards a waiting a carriage but before he could go over, a younger man - probably the opera singer's brother or boyfriend, ran up first. "Cosette! Cosette!" he called desperately for the opera singer who, unfortunately, was unable to pay him any attention. "Cosette! It's Louis! Please! We have to talk!"

"Get away from my star," the man that had pushed Cosette into the carriage sent a warning finger at Louis. "Do not bother her again."

"You can't keep her away from me!" Louis warned right back.

The man, in return, smirked. "I think I can." He then climbed into the carriage and promptly closed its door.

"Now what was all this?" Avalon startled the Doctor into looking away from the leaving carriage and Louis.

"We need to find that singer," he said straight away.

"Why? You want her autograph or something?"

The Doctor tilted his head, unamused with her jokes at the moment. "It's important, alright? I saw something…"

Avalon did indeed take it seriously and asked more about it. "What did you see? Something bad? Alien?"

"Just...just something," the Doctor preferred to leave things as they were until he got conclusive evidence. This, however, only irritated Avalon.

"What do you mean 'something'?" she held air quotation marks. "What does that mean? What's-"

"Hey!" Rory reached them next, and behind came Amy and Lena who were out of breath. "What's going on?"

"I don't know because someone refuses to tell," Avalon spat at the Time Lord who took it all with a long sigh.

"Look, we just need to find that man - Louis," the Doctor turned to where the carriage had been but was surprised to find that Louis had gone as well. "No! No! No!" he frantically searched their immediate area for the man but it was like he'd disapepared into thin air. "Where'd he go!?"

"Who, big brother?" Lena asked worriedly.

"Avalon! You made me lose him!"

Avalon's eyes widened, clearly offended the blame of whatever problem was happening was now, apparently, on her. " _Me_? Are you kidding me?"

"Yes, you!" the Doctor turned on her, meeting her angry face. "You-" he flapped his hands at her, only infuriating her more, "-with your questions! You made me lose track of the carriage and Louis!"

"Who the hell is Louis!?" Avalon shouted, attracting some onlookers glances. "I've no idea what you're talking about!"

"The singer's boyfriend or brother - I don't know! But you-"

"Don't you point at me fairytale man!" Avalon smacked his fingers away from her.

"OKAY!" Rory put himself between the two, arms extended on either side of him. "Let's just calm down and-"

"No!" Avalon refused to let it go. This wasn't the first time she'd been put in the same predicament with the Doctor. All of a sudden he would just go off on these little trips and when she asked questions about it he would get all antagonizing with her. "It's his fault! He never says anything and me asking questions makes _me_ the bad guy?" she pointed at herself. "On what planet is that fair?"

The Doctor could see, despite his own feelings, that she was being reasonable in her thoughts. He knew that he did tend to go off on things that he would then avoid explaining to them, but that's just the way he was. He always spotted the problems first and, thinking that it was pointless explaining to his companions to the fullest extent, he'd just be brief and find the solutions.

With another sigh, the Doctor motioned that he was acknowledging his loss. "You're right."

"Of course I'm right," Avalon snapped, apparently not at all swayed by his acknowledgement.

"Avalon," Lena gave her a significant look. Her sister did not desist.

"What? I'm supposed to forget simply because for once he chose to agree that he's wrong?"

"Okay, before I lose interest, someone want to explain what you're even arguing about?" Amy scratched her head. "Preferrably the part that includes running off?"

"There's something wrong with the opera singer," the Doctor explained while taking another look at their surroundings in case Louis popped back into view. "I have a theory she may be in some sort of trance but...I'd have to meet that Louis fellow."

"Who's Louis?" asked Rory.

"He was trying to get the singer, Cosette, to stop and talk with him but her boss didn't allow it."

"So you want us to find this man, then?" Amy followed.

The Doctor nodded. "He can't have gotten far."

"Splitting up helps," Amy resolved, hands on her hips. "So let's do that and get a move on. If we find him, just text."

"You brought your phone?" the Doctor gave her an incredulous glance. "Where?"

Amy smirked and reached into her dress, making everyone go 'stop' except Avalon who laughed. "Well, these dresses don't have pockets, do they!?" went Amy.

"Great minds think alike," Avalon did a thumb's up motion.

"Ava! You too?" Rory crinkled his nose.

"Someone's got to add pockets."

"Incredible," the Doctor rubbed his temples. "You're both incredible. Now please, can we get back to the situation?"

"We need to split up," Amy reiterated her suggestion. "And since Avalon and I are the only ones who have phones, we should split up into two groups, someone with me and the others with Avalon."

"Lena's with me of course," Avalon automatically said, much to Lena's disappointment. So far, Lena's endeavor to wean Avalon off wasn't making much progress. Avalon was blind to all attempts.

"Rory's with me," Amy latched onto her fiance's arm. "That just leaves the Doctor to pick a side. Fair warning, Avalon still looks like she might kill you."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "I will take my chances with the killer Reynolds."

"I don't need you," Avalon made sure to leave clear for everyone.

"No, but your sister does. What if she enters some sort of state? This is the 19th century, after all, and you don't have pockets." Avalon shifted, her eyes once again narrowing as she realized she'd lost this round. The Doctor straightened his jacket, smirking widely. "Shall we go, then?"

Avalon growled and stalked off.

With an innocent grin at the others, the Doctor said, "I guess we're going in that direction."

Lena playfully rolled her eyes. "C'mon, big brother." She linked arms with him and started after Avalon.

~ 0 ~

Finding Louis turned out to be a rather difficult mission. An hour had passed and so far the man had not come up.

"Wouldn't it just be easier to start asking?" Lena sighed after coming out a coffee shop.

"Please," Avalon scoffed. "Men _never_ want to ask for directions. Remember Dad when we went camping for the first time?"

Lena hummed. "Oh, Dad."

"We just have to keep trying," the Doctor started up ahead. "If we start asking for the man then we might get suspicious. We definitely don't want to attract attention to ourselves."

"And exactly what are we trying to avoid, then?" Avalon crossed her arms, her face once again taking on a challenging expression. The Doctor stopped walking, shoulders slumped knowing they were about to enter another round of arguments. "Or, should I say, _who_ are we meant to be lying low for?"

"Avalon…" Lena nervously glanced at her sister.

"Lena, my feet are tired and this man-" Avalon gestured to the Doctor who'd turned around, "-doesn't want to tell us anything as usual. Contrary to the popular belief, Doctor, but I only ask things that I think I have a right to know about. I'm not asking about your home, nor your interests, nor anything about you. You made it pretty clear that you don't feel like sharing anything with us."

Lena wanted to defend the Doctor, she really did, but this time Avalon had stricken a point that the sisters, along with Amy and Rory, had talked about one night on their own. The Doctor was genuinely a kind man as far as they could tell, but really...what did anyone know about him? Even Avalon, who prided herself by knowing details of the Doctor's life based on stories, acknowledged that she didn't know anything _real_ about him. Lena herself knew she would never ask the Doctor anything about himself unless he willingly chose to share himself, but it didn't mean she wasn't curious to know more about him. Avalon, on the other hand, was just bursting with curiosity. How she was restraining herself, Lena didn't know.

Avalon made a small scoffing noise and shook her head. "I give up on you," she said rather coldly. "You can find me at a local bar when you're done with whatever mission it is you decided to carry off."

"A-Avalon!" the Doctor wearily called after her but the ginger walked off without looking back. He ran a hand through his hair and looked at Lena. "Your sister's quite a number."

"Yeah," Lena agreed. "But maybe right now we should let her cool off. We should continue searching in the meanwhile."

The Doctor thought it for the best that Avalon remain alone for a while. He'd learned rather quick that when she was crossed, it was better to clear the way than be iN in her way.

~ 0 ~

Avalon had discovered that being a woman prevented her from entering such local pubs. "And that goes double for your mother you prick!" she threw her bonnet into the bar then skidded away. She muttered some swearing as she stalked down the street. She took back everything good she'd said about the era and now wished nothing more than to find the TARDIS and go to her room. She made a turn and bumped into someone, a someone who'd seemingly been in quite a rush as well.

"Sorry, ma'am! Excuse me!"

"There he is! Get him! That's Louis!" Avalon heard an older man call from a distance.

"Wait a minute!" Avalon turned right around and started after the man she'd bumped into. "You're Louis!? Do you know the singer Cosette!?"

The name seemed to freeze the man for a split second. "You're one of them, aren't you? Part of his singers?"

Avalon's eyebrows knitted together. "I like to sing but I'm not opera material, believe me. I am bad at opera."

"So was Cosette and now here we are - I'm running for my life now, sweetheart. Scuse me."

But before the man could continue running, Avalon grasped his arm and yanked him into a small alley. She pressed herself against the wall and indicated for Louis to do the same. They soon saw the group of men Avalon heard running past them, none of them noticing they were there.

"Much better," Avalon leaned away from the wall and straightened herself up before turning to Louis. "So then, what exactly were you running from?"

Louis looked her up and down for a second before giving an answer. "You're not from around, aren't you? You're not French."

"I'm visiting. And I happened to have caught your girlfriend's show earlier."

Louis' face darkened. "Cosette is no longer anything of mine, thanks to that Valdemar."

"Could I interest you in some coffee for the nerves?" Avalon asked, deciding she was not going to let the man escape her clutches. And, for the time being, she wouldn't call any of her friends. Let's see how the Doctor liked secrets on him.

~ 0 ~

In a local cafe shop, Louis and Avalon sat at a small table and ordered their respective drinks.

"Cosette and I were engaged, you see-" Louis was explaining to Avalon as the two waited for their drinks to arrive, the ones Louis ended up paying for, "-and I daresay we were both equally happy."

"But my friend and I, we saw when you were trying to get Cosette's attention when she was getting into her carriage...she didn't even look like she knew you," Avalon said.

"That's the interesting part, isn't it?" Louis sighed. "I know it has something to do with Valdemar."

"The man ushering her into the carriage?"

Louis nodded. "He's her boss. He has many opera singers under his management. He truly has one of the most wonderful women singers."

"Including Cosette," Avalon added.

"But that's the thing, Cosette wasn't always a fabulous singer. In fact, she was _barely_ a singer before she started meeting with Valdemar."

Avalon tilted her head. "How do you mean?"

"See, Cosette - while I do love her mostly - was a terrible singer. She always dreamed of becoming a singer, nonetheless."

"Nice profession," Avalon smiled to herself and graciously helped the waiter who'd stopped by to leave their drinks. "Unfortunately, it's not as easy to achieve without the proper education."

"You sing as well?" Louis carefully put his warm cup of coffee on the table.

"I dabble," Avalon shrugged. "But my skills don't reach to that of an opera singer."

"Well, without hearing your voice, I'm sure you would have been better than Cosette," Louis sighed. "She too went to receive this 'education'-" he did air quotation marks, "-from Valdemar. Or rather, she tried to each day. She would visit him and plead for him to help her. One day, she just never came home."

"She just stayed with Valdemar, then?" Avalon thought that rather odd for the era they were in.

"Valdemar took her under her wing and suddenly, in the blink of an eye, Cosette had this beautiful, ethereal voice."

"Hm, that she did," Avalon smirked.

"It's been months since I've talked to Cosette and today, after her show, I tried to get a word with her but...she didn't even look like she knew me."

"Yes, I've seen something similar to that," Avalon thought back to Guido of Venice and his daughter. _This has alien written all over it and that Doctor didn't even tell us!_ Avalon raged inwardly.

"Are you alright, miss?" Louis' voice broke her from her thoughts. Avalon follow his gaze to her almost white knuckles that were gripping her cup's handle. Avalon cleared her throat and put her cup back down. "You're upset," Louis noted. "But I doubt it was about Cosette."

"No, believe me, I am very worried about your fiancee's state," Avalon clarified. "I just seem to be having problems of my own."

"Problems of the heart, as well?"

Avalon made a comical face but it reddening didn't help her case. "No, no, nothing like that! Just friend troubles. But listen, about Cosette, I'll help you."

"You? I don't even know your name. How could I trust you?"

"Well-" Avalon picked up her cup, bringing it to her lips, "-I listened to you, didn't I? I'm betting that's farther than you've gotten since Cosette left."

Louis' face fell, confirming Avalon's suspicions. "It's not like I can go to the police about it. Valdemar's rich. Everyone loves his opera shows. Who would believe a man with no name like me?"

"Avalon Reynolds believes him," Avalon declared with a wide smirk. "And trust me when I tell you that what I want I always get. Tonight I feel like getting the truth out of that Valdemar."

Louis barely had a moment to smile when the entire cafe building was silenced by a shrill scream outside. Without thinking about it, Avalon jumped her chair. "Avalon, where are you going?" Louis went after her as the ginger hurried towards the doors.

The scream had belonged to a man in tattered clothes - probably a homeless man - lying on the ground. There was already a small group of people crowding around him, but no one was actually helping.

"Move out of my way!" Avalon pushed her way through the crowd, ignoring the disapproving looks. She gasped at the sight of the man. His ears were pouring blood out. She fell to her knees and shakily put her hands over his ears. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!"

"Avalon! What are you doing!?" Louis had caught up and was horrified to see the woman, in such fancy clothing, kneeling and touching the homeless man.

"C'mon, c'mon," Avalon impatiently waited for her hands to do their usual glowing.

"Police! Move out of the way!"

"Avalon, we have to go!" Louis pulled Avalon away from the man, missing their golden hue.

"I can heal him!" Avalon struggled but Louis dragged her away from the crowd. "I can heal diseases, just let me go!"

"Are you mad!? Would you like to be cast off as crazy?"

Avalon stopped fighting when she realized he was right. Besides, the police had already reached the homeless man.

"What were you talking about back there? Curing diseases?" Louis was now trailing after Avalon who was in the middle of setting her thoughts right. "I didn't take you for the nurse type."

"I'm not a nurse!"

"Then what are you? Really?" Louis grabbed her arm and forced her around. "You're not from here and that's an understatement, isn't it? Who are you?"

Avalon pushed his hand off her arm and gave him a serious stare. "You want to find out what happened to Cosette? I'm your girl."

"I doubt that-" Louis began to trail her over when Avalon cut him and sharply.

" _Don't_ you dare look me over again like I'm some piece of meat. I'm Avalon, nice to meet you," she stuck a hand between them. "No, I'm not from here, but I can help. I've got friends who, in reality, dedicate themselves to these sorts of cases. Do you want us to help you?"

Louis looked between her and her hand for a couple of minutes before shaking the hand. "I do. I really do."

"Great," Avalon smiled. "So now you're going to start by telling me where this Valdemar lives."

~ 0 ~

Valdemar's house was like any other rich styled building. It was flanked by eloquent gardens and a golden gate. There were guards on the first level, but being time travelers had their ways.

"Avalon, there you are!" Lena encased her twin in a big hug. Behind her came the Doctor, Amy and Rory. "I was worried sick!"

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Avalon pulled away with a smile. "Whaddya think I was going to do?" but the looks on her friends' faces quickly made her say, "Never mind, don't answer." She brought Louis closer to them in order to give introductions. "I found him, and I did the questioning and whatever is wrong is going on in that house," she nodded to Valdemar's house.

"Louis," the man shook hands with Rory and the Doctor while acknowledging Amy and Lena. "Avalon said you could help me find out what happened to Cosette."

"She was his fiancee before meeting Valdemar," Avalon said briefly.

"So it was something to do with that creepy guy!" Amy exclaimed suddenly, though her happy outburst was soon replaced by guilt. "Sorry. Rory and I were talking about it during our search."

"Well, I got the deets," Avalon said proudly, giving the Doctor a quick smirk. "How about that?"

"So how about that breaking in then, Doctor?" Amy purposely asked loudly before they could start arguing.

"Right, yes!" the Doctor stepped closer to the gates of Valdemar's home. "Well, there's guards, and I doubt using the psychic paper will grant us entry into his secret rooms."

"Secret rooms?" Rory repeated.

"Oh, big house like that and you think there's no secret rooms?" the Doctor shot him a smirk.

"So how can we get in, big brother?" Lena stepped up beside him.

"We could try the roof," Louis offered, making everyone's head whip in his direction. "I may have already thought about sneaking in…" he added bashfully.

"Love's a bitch, ain't it?" Avalon laughed to herself while the man went red in the face.

~ 0 ~

While it wasn't easy getting to the roof of Valdemar's home, the group managed to do it while only slightly tearing dresses here and there. They'd went in through the back and climbed up using the ladder left by a construction workers. The guards were distracted by a couple of children who'd been slipped a couple of coins by Rory and had the perfect timing to get up cleanly.

"Are we going to break it?" Louis watched the Doctor examine the skylight giving access to an attic.

"Not quite," the Doctor smirked and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. He aimed it at the corners to get the skylight opened.

"What is that?" Louis was dazzled by the sonic.

"You can't have it!" the Doctor warned him.

One by one, they dropped into the room which turned out to be nothing more than a dirty attic. They crept out into the hallway and watched for anyone coming their way.

"Where are these 'secret' rooms?" Lena whispered.

"We just try random doors, don't we?" Avalon stopped by one door and flung it open.

"Ava!" Rory nearly had a heart attack but Avalon snickered and closed the door.

"Nothing but clothes in here, Rory. Jesus, calm down."

"Don't go opening doors like that!"

"Oh, then how come he can do it?" Avalon pointed at the Doctor who'd stopped by another door and slowly opened it up.

"Oh yes, because _he_ should be your role model," Rory rubbed his forehead and dragged Avalon after the others.

Lena and Amy had gasped horribly at whatever was inside the room. Louis just seemed horrified, but the Doctor was cryptic. Rory and Avalon came up to an eerie green glowing room full of young women inside chambers. Each of the women wore a gas mask with tubes running down and connecting behind the chambers up to the ceiling. There was some sort of green gas (or smoke) billowing around the room, but so far nontoxic.

"Woah…" Avalon stepped inside right after the Doctor. Her eyes trailed up to where a high-tech machine hung from the ceiling. There were rings surrounding its top and lower parts with flashing buttons all around it.

"What on Earth is all this?" Louis felt the air leave his lungs at such a horrific sight.

"Doctor, this can't be from the 18th century," Amy's eyes flickered from one chamber to the next. None of the women inside seemed to be conscious.

"Judging by _that_ -" Rory pointed over to what looked to be like the central control panel residing at the side, just by the doors, "-it has to be from the future."

The Doctor quickly left his studies of the chambers to go poke at the control panel with his sonic.

"Definitely not 51st century," Lena made her own calculations. While it was definitely from the future, none of the machinery remotely looked like what the hospitals had in the 51st century.

"What is being pumped into them?" Louis stopped exactly in front of Cosette's chamber, and suddenly his question seemed useless. "Cosette! Cosette! Can you hear me!?"

Rory rushed over to stop the man from calling Cosette's name. "We'll be caught!"

Louis shook Rory off him and pointed at Cosette's unconscious form. "But she's right there! And she's being...poisoned!"

"Not poisoned, no," Amy walked over, far calmer than Louis. "It can't be poison or else we'd all be poisoned from the smoke."

"It's not," the Doctor was reading off his sonic. "This thing-" he nodded to the control panel, "-is a DNA sequencer."

"And for those of us who don't speak alien geek?" Avalon raised an eyebrow.

"It's a machine for decoding genetic inheritance, meaning-"

"No, I need to check on the girls!" they suddenly heard Valdemar himself in the hallway.

"Big brother!" Lena panicked as the man neared the room.

"Hide!" Amy ordered and she, Rory and Louis hurried behind the chambers, sticking themselves as far back as possible.

The Doctor took Lena and Avalon with him to the back of the control panel and all three ducked just as Valdemar entered the room. He went directly for the chambers and began to take off the masks from the women, all except for Cosette. From their hiding spots, the group could see that when each singer opened their eyes they were flashing a dangerous green. Their mouths also released the same green smoke that was in the room.

"What the hell kind of demons are those?" Avalon made the question and received a prompt hand on the mouth from the Doctor. This time, she knew she deserved it.

"Each of you has a task to perform," Valdemar spoke his army. "I've programmed into your chambers victims' names that I'd like you to go after tonight. Bring me back their genetic samples before you kill them with your beautiful singing. Understood?"

Each of the women nodded their heads silently. Then, like birds, they each flew out from the windows to do their respective assignments.

There was a long silence in the room where Valdemar remained, until…

"You may come out now."

The group remained frozen for a bit despite knowing they'd been somehow caught.

Lena whimpered in fear and Avalon grabbed her hand. The Doctor pulled himself up, rather calmly and leaned over the control panel. "Nice room you got, don't really care for the gas, though."

"Are you kidding?" Avalon popped in beside him, and with her Lena. "I'm more against the creepy demon girls."

Valdemar smirked at them, and glanced over his shoulder when Amy, Rory and Louis emerged from their own hiding spots. He, of course, recognized Louis. "Well, well, look who got himself some new friends."

"What have you done to Cosette?" Louis wasted no time in demanding. "What did you do to her?"

"She wanted to become a singer, and that's what I gave her."

"Uh, where does the creepy green eyes and smoke come in?" Amy raised a finger.

"I'd personally love to know how you've gotten the levitation to work," the Doctor grabbed Valdemar's attention. "Tricky but doable...just not in this particular era."

"You wouldn't understand," Valdemar promised him.

"Try me," the Doctor instructed, or rather ordered, darkly.

"This is beyond your knowledge, _sir_ ," Valdemar spat the last word. He walked over to Cosette's chamber and flicked a switch to activate its release process. "But even then, you've all seen too much and I simply cannot allow that."

"Doctor…" Avalon stiffened when Valdemar took the gas mask off Cosette's face. "Demon girl...being released…"

"Yes, I'm seeing…" the Doctor watched with a bit of fascination as Cosette was released from her chamber.

"Dear one, sing them all to sleep," Valdemar gave the order.

Cosette then began to sing under a trance, and despite once having a wonderful voice, what came out of her mouth was nothing but putrid screams. The group was forced to cover their ears but each fell to their knees. One by one, they fell unconscious.

~ 0 ~

The next time the group of time travelers and Louis woke up, they found themselves in chained to the wall of the dusty attic they'd come in through.

"What the - hey!" Avalon growled and pulled on her chains to no avail. "Is it possible to kill a demon? Because I think I might give it a go!"

"Oh, I like her," Valdemar emerged from the darkness with Cosette at his side.

"You're not my type," Avalon snapped.

"Avalon, shush time," Lena drawled beside her.

"We're already chained, what more can they do?" Avalon challenged. "Besides kill us."

"Actually, before we're killed, I'd like to know _why_ ," the Doctor began his usual, innocent questioning. "Really, Valdemar, what's the point?"

"Well, since you're all about to die anyways…" Valdemar smirked. "I was supposed to be excuted, you see, but in a year that none of you would ever live to see."

"So you're from the future," Rory concluded his suspicions. "That's why the room was so high-tech."

"But if he's supposed to be executed, does that mean you ran away?" Lena tilted her head. "And, what's more, you ran to the 18th century?"

"It wasn't by my choice," Valdemar corrected. "2098 executions are not the easiest to get by - I wouldn't even have been nearly executed if I hadn't been betrayed by supposed friends. I pulled every last coin in my savings to escape.

"And, again, you chose to come to the 18th century," Lena was waiting, and hoping, he would explain his precise choice.

"You said...DNA sequencing..." Avalon glanced at the Doctor, "Explain that bit again."

"Ancestors," the Doctor realized at the reminder of the chambers. "You came back to get revenge on those who betrayed you."

"Ooh, that is _good_ ," Avalon couldn't help but be awed. When she noticed all the looks she was getting from her friends and sister she cleared her throat and added, "I like books. There's this good one where the guy wants to get rid of his enemy so he goes back in time to erase the ancestors. What was the title again? Um…"

"Avalon, please be quiet," Amy pleaded when she saw Valdemar's raging face.

"Four of my comrades betrayed me to buy their freedoms!" the man roared. "And now that I escaped I will erase them from existence! Cosette," Valdemar snapped his fingers and the woman stepped forwards, still under his control. "You know what to do with them. I need genetic samples from each of them." With that, Valdemar left the room .

Cosette moved forwards and started with Louis who pulled on his chains and pleaded with Cosette to remember him. Cosette grabbed him by the face and kissed him, and _hard_.

"I'm confused...are we being killed or snogged?" Avalon raised an eyebrow.

"Genetic samples," the Doctor reminded and started yanking his chains again.

"You mean she's going to kiss us!?" Lena frantically began pulling on her own chains.

"What - Rory!" Amy yelled, scandalized as her fiancee was promptly kissed by Cosette.

"It's not like it's his fault, Amy!" the Doctor reminded.

"It's not her fault either!" Louis then chimed in. He wasn't exactly liking this idea but he understood enough to know that Cosette was not acting out of her own will.

"Oh, so sacrificed aren't we!?" Avalon shot at him.

"What? I'm last if you haven't noticed! I just need to get the sonic!"

"You can't reach for it and I certainly can't!"

"Amy!" Lena gasped when Cosette move onto the first ginger.

"Doctor, you better get a better plan! She's moving into my sister!" Avalon fiercely fought with her chains but even her strength wasn't enough to snap one of them at least. Helplessly, she watched Cosette kiss her sister as well for the genetic sample.

"She tastes like gas," Amy crinkled her nose. "Am I going to he poisoned now!?'

"No, I shouldn't think so. He's testing for genetic sampling-" the Doctor began when Avalon kicked his leg.

"Not the time for explaining! Find a way to free us - Oh listen lady," she flared at Cosette, "If you come near me I'll-" Cosette took no notice of her words and kissed her next.

"Oh, hi there," the Doctor nervously greeted Cosette when it came to be his turn. "Any chance we could not do the kis-"

"Sorry, did he think asking nicely would stop her?" Amy incredulously looked at Rory.

"He seems to be enjoying himself," Avalon felt a tingle of anger she knew was well misplaced.

As if nothing happened, Cosette turned to leave the room.

"What's she need our 'genetic samples' for anyways?" Lena asked.

"What are they meant for?" Louis added on.

"Well, I imagine they're going to see if any of us are part of Valdemar's enemies' ancestors," the Doctor began to explain while he jiggled to the side between him and Avalon, awkwardly since his head kept hitting her side. "As well as to see if we're part of his ancestors."

"But that's ridiculous. We're not from here," Avalon frowned, watching him with a rather annoyed look. "You, Lena and I aren't even part of this stupid planet."

"Yes, I remember that. Valdemar doesn't know that."

"And neither did I!" Louis was horrified. "Are you saying you're...you're...you know...extraterrestrials?"

"It doesn't stop there, we're from the future," Rory said, pitying the man's horror.

"Oh that's just…" Louis didn't even have the words to express his feelings at the moment.

"Doctor, what the hell are you doing!?" Avalon yelped when his head hit her arm. He'd managed to tilt his whole body to the side.

"The sonic!" he grunted as he pushed himself more to the side. "It's in my jacket's pocket! If I can get it to fall out then we can get out of here!"

"You're mad," Avalon declared. "Smart. But mad."

The Doctor ignored her and focused on his purpose. He shook his shoulders and leaned towards Avalon's side. A couple things did manage to fall out from his pocket, including yarn, gum, a super ball, and finally...the sonic screwdriver.

"It worked!" Lena laughed.

The Doctor picked up the sonic with his mouth then aimed it at the only angle he could, which turned out to be Avalon's left-handed chain. With a quick zip, her chain broke free.

"Yes!" Avalon snatched the sonic from his mouth but shivered. "Eugh! It's got your saliva!"

"Are we really being picky?" the Doctor incredulously demanded.

"Avalon just use the bloody thing!" Amy shouted.

"Just flick the switch there," the Doctor instructed.

Avalon growled and aimed the sonic at her other chain. "If I get some sort of illness I swear to God regeneration won't be enough to save you."

The Doctor mocked her in silence. Avalon soon freed herself and, of course, went on to free her sister next.

"What are we meant to do now?" Amy asked.

"Capture that man!" Louis said obviously. "Can we reverse what happened to them? Cosette?"

"It's possible, but we need to get to the gas chamber first," the Doctor said, patiently waiting as Avalon made her way down past Amy to Rory.

"But how?" Louis demanded to know the full answer.

"I will figure it out as we go!"

"That's reassurance," Avalon freed Louis.

"Would you quit your sarcasm and come free me?" the Doctor exclaimed, but Avalon smirked. She slowly made her way to the Doctor, on purpose, which irritates him even more. "Want to go slower, Avalon?"

Avalon bent down beside him, twirling his sonic between her fingers. "Want to shut up before I actually decide to leave you here?"

"You wouldn't," the Doctor scowled.

Avalon smirked again and leaned closer. "I've done that to a guy before, so you probably should be scared."

"Oh my god this is the worst flirting I've ever seen," Amy muttered then clapped her hands. "Oi! Let's go already!"

Avalon sighed and aimed the sonic at the chains holding the Doctor. The Doctor quickly got up to his feet and reached to take the sonic but Avalon whirled away. "Off we go!" she declared and ran forwards.

The Doctor groaned and went after her with the group. They crept back for the gas chambers where Valdemar was busy decoding their genetic samples. In no time the man had concluded that Amy and Rory were not of his own ancestors. Naturally, he was stumped to find Lena, Avalon and the Doctor's genetic codes to be far more different than any human possible.

"Cosette, you may dispose of our lovely non-French intruders who seem to have a knack for getting caught."

Amy smacked a hand over her forehead.

"Give me that!" the Doctor snatched his sonic from Avalon's hand.

"Oh please, like that's going to save us from a demon girl!" Avalon snapped.

"You are not from this world, are you?" Valdemar turned from his women to face the group. He was looking directly at the Doctor, a bit awed. "In fact, I would say you are a very long way from home. As are you…" he gestured to Avalon and Lena.

"Don't point at my sister," Avalon ordered.

"You three, along with your friends here," Valdemar made a motion to Amy and Rory, "Are useless gits in my plans. Cosette, do what you do best."

A flash of realization crossed Louis' eyes. He looked around the room and saw shattered pieces of glass probably from Cosette's singing earlier. Without much pondering, he snatched up a piece from the ground. "STOP!"

He held the share right to his neck and slowly slipped in front of the group. "You take one step and I'll do it."

"Wh-what are you doing!?" Rory shouted at the man frantically.

"I've figured it out, that's what," Louis determinedly stated at Valdemar. "I-I'm your ancestor, aren't I? That's why you didn't order for my death. Isn't it?"

"Doctor, is that true?" Lena whispered to the Time Lord.

"Of course it's true!" Louis answered, quite sire of himself as he nudged Valdemar's cold look. "I die and you cease to exist. I _will_ do it."

Valdemar upheld the state until he had to give in. "Stop," he gave the order to Cosette who stopped immediately. "No matter, I will have my revenge _tonight_. My daughters of the night: it's time to go."

The women surrounded him and flew him out the window like stock of birds. Louis threw away the shard of glass and lunged on Cosette to stop her from going. Cosette thrashed against Louis but the man kept her on the ground.

"Doctor! Can you reserve what has been done to her!?" Louis called frantically. Rory rushed over to help keep Cosette down.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic and fiddled with some of its features. "A good sound reverberating should be enough to pull her out from her trance."

"Ah, so you _weren't_ going to just 'go along with it'," Amy said, a bit impressed.

The Doctor hurried over and aimed the sonic over Cosette's head. "Just keep her still."

Rory grabbed Cosette's head while Louis managed to keep her body still enough for the Doctor to reverse the trance. Cosette's thrashing instantly, and for a second it seemed she'd fallen unconscious.

"What did you do!?" Louis demanded, assuming the worst.

Cosette suddenly gasped awake, her eyes no longer flashing green. "Wh-what happened?" she coughed.

"Cosette, is it you again?" Louis helped her sit up right. Rory got up and moved back with the Doctor. "A-are you…"

"Why are you looking at me like that?" the dark-haired woman raised an eyebrow him. It appeared she didn't have a recollection of anything. Her eyes flickered to the group of travelers behind Louis. "Who are they?"

"Friends, absolutely the best of friends," Louis sent a truly grateful look at the Doctor before hugging Cosette.

"Doctor, what about the others women?" Rory asked the Time Lord. "And Valdemar? We're not letting him go, right?"

"Never," the Doctor muttered and stepped forwards. "Cosette?" the woman in question pulled away from Louis and questionably looked at him. "I'm the Doctor, and...I could really use your help catching Valdemar."

"That man?" Cosette's nose crinkled. "I don't remember much but I'm sure he's responsible for whatever happened to me. Isn't it?"

"Yes," the Doctor nodded. "The trance Valdemar put you under is gone but I can still use the echoe of existence in you to trace it back to Valdemar."

"I...have no idea what that means...but okay," Cosette nervously glanced at Louis. He encouraged her with a nod which did relax her a little.

~ 0 ~

Using Cosette and the sonic, the Doctor was able to trace Valdemar's trance signal all the way to the roof of Notre Dame.

"Never thought I'd be meeting Notre Dame in these circumstances," Avalon sighed sadly. "But it's not surprising."

"I don't understand, why is Valdemar here?" Louis asked. He kept a hold on Cosette like she'd fall under the man's trance again.

"He's ready to decimate his enemies' ancestors, clearly," the Doctor started for the doors. "Now you all need to stay here. I don't want anyone to run after me trying to play hero and just getting hurt. Is that clear?"

Lena was, of course, the first to nod her head. Reluctantly, Amy and Rory followed. Louis had no intention of following and much less let Cosette do the same.

"Avalon, is that clear?" the Doctor waited to hear her confirmation. "Avalon?" he glanced at the woman when she didn't answer. Avalon was staring up at the big bell on the roof. "Avalon! Did you listen?"

"That big bell…" she pointed, clearly ignoring his words. "If you were to use it…"

"Avalon, I am talking to you!"

"Yeah, yeah, shush for a moment, please," Avalon waved him off with hand. "I'm saying about that bell-"

The Doctor rolled his eyes and looked to Rory. "Don't let her follow, please."

"Got it," Rory promised and the Doctor started on his way.

"OI!" Avalon called after him but remained in her spot. "You're not going to listen to me?"

"I - I am busy!" the Doctor pointed upwards to remind her of the situation.

"And I am trying to _help_ you! Come here," Avalon motioned for him to return. " _Now."_

Grumbling, the Doctor walked back to her. She grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him to face the building, pointing up to the roof. "See the bells there?"

"I think we all see them, Avalon," Amy flatly said.

"I was thinking, if all you need is a stronger sound to cancel out the trance Valdemar has on the women...couldn't you use the bell to do it all at once?"

"Well that's-" the Doctor stopped when it hit him. Without a word, he turned to Avalon. "You are _good_!"

Avalon smirked. "Well, took you long enough to realize that."

"I can use the sonic-"

"Yeah, I was thinking about that-"

"-and hopefully get the women back in time-"

"-yeah that was the point I was trying to-"

The Doctor laughed and kissed her forehead. "Thank you!" he ran towards the building.

There was a strange smile spreading across Avalon's face, one that left questions in the air from her friends.

~ 0 ~

Valdemar had his 'daughters of the night' lined up in a horizontal line when the Doctor came forwards. Once again, Valdemar knew of the Time Lord's presence and turned to face him.

"You don't give up," Valdemar noted, and the Doctor gave a curt nod. "I admire it but it is getting rather tedious."

"Valdemar, I am giving you a chance to stop all of this," the Doctor began, truly meaning his words. Valdemar laughed, but it didn't stop the Doctor from continuing. "You can't change your past and much less anyone else's past. Believe me, I've tried to do the same before and it does not work out."

"Really?" Valdemar mused. "Have you tried to do what I have?"

"Try to eradicate my enemies by erasing their ancestors? No," the Doctor replied. "But believe me when I tell you that you can't undo your choices. You have to face what you've done."

"Facing what I've done means execution, Doctor. I was charged with treason, murder, mental domination and so many more crimes that I was sent directly to execution."

"You chose to do all those things and you cannot evade it-"

"IT'S NOT FAIR!" Valdemar roared but the Doctor remained unfazed. "All my comrades betrayed me! While they get to walk free I have to die?" he laughed. "I don't think so."

"Valdemar you're not going to get away with this," the Doctor repeated. "This is your chance to stop."

Valdemar frowned. "I have a better idea. How about instead of just erasing my enemies from existence, I expand my idea to include your little friends."

The Doctor's jaw clenched at the threat and stepped forwards. "You will not touch my friends."

"Watch me," Valdemar glanced over his shoulders to the women under his control.

"Valdemar-" the Doctor's edgy voice called.

"Go find me-"

"DON'T!" the Doctor aimed the sonic at the bell hanging at the center and set it into tumultuous clangs. He covered his ears as quick as possible and stumbled with the force of the bell.

Valdemar did the same but the women behind him were seemingly struggling to do so. They growled and their eyes flashed green - they were clearly being affected by the noise.

"Get him! Sing to him!" Valdemar roared between the noises, pointing at the Doctor. However, the women ignored him and started reaching for Valdemar instead. "Wh-what are you doing!? Get off me!" Valdemar fought against the women as best he could but even he saw that it was of no use. They were coming out of his trance. He glanced around for a possible escape and only saw the roof edge.

"Valdemar, you don't have to!" the Doctor shouted once he saw where he was going.

"You forced me to," Valdemar blamed him. He climbed onto the edge and with another look at the women and the Doctor, he jumped off.

Below, there was screams of horror when Valdemar's body landed with an excruciating crack on the ground.

~ 0 ~

"A-and you're sure I'm no longer...under that...trance thing?" Cosette asked the Doctor for the fifth time despite him already explain that Valdemar's trance on all the opera singers had vanished with the Notre Dame bells.

The Doctor, however, was happy to once again reassure her doubts. "You are free from any trance whatsoever."

"But...with that, does it mean I can no longer sing?" Cosette nervously glanced at Louis beside her. "I liked to sing."

There, the Doctor felt awkward having to tell her that while as lovely as she was she did not possess the right ability to sing. He now sincerely wished the rest of his friends would come out of that sweet shop so that they could finally leave the place.

Louis hugged Cosette dearly and chuckled. "Perhaps it is time to start looking for another profession, Cosette."

"This is your kindest way to tell me I have no talent, isn't it?" Cosette asked but nonetheless laughed.

"I do love you," Louis said instead, hoping it was enough to keep that laugh going.

"There you are!" the Doctor exclaimed to his friends who'd finally emerged from the sweet shop. "I was beginning to think I'd have to go in and fish all of you out."

"Blame Amy," Lena pointed a finger at the ginger in question who was munching on a sweet biscuit. "She wanted to take the whole shop."

"Not true," Amy grumbled and continued to chew on her sweet.

"No, of course not, just ask the bag overflowing with candy," Rory smirked and earned himself a glare from Amy.

"Rory! You're supposed to defend me!"

"Yes, well, we should get going," the Doctor moved them along before they got in an argument.

"It was nice meeting you," Amy said to Louis and Cosette before she was forced to walk for the TARDIS.

"I'm glad you're better now," Lena cheerily said to Cosette.

"Thank you," Cosette said truthfully.

"You hold onto this one," Avalon came up beside Louis. "He's a good fiancee. I might steal him."

"Don't you dare," the Doctor pointed at her, fearing her jokes would cause a ripple between Cosette and Louis.

"C'mon big brother," Lena linked arms with him. "I want to get some sleep. It's been a long night."

"Thank you Doctor," Cosette waved goodbye to him.

"And thank you Avalon," Louis kindly said to the ginger as the Doctor and Lena got a headstart for the TARDIS. "Without you, I would have never gotten my Cosette back."

"Well, technically, the Doctor's the one that did all the saving," Avalon shrugged and dropped a gumdrop in his mouth.

"But you're the one who started it all, so thank you," Louis took Avalon's hand and politely kissed the back of it.

Avalon laughed. "Oh, I definitely like you. Cosette, don't you ever let him go!"

"I promise," Cosette softly said.

Avalon popped in another sweet into her mouth. "I should get going. Doctor's one to probably leave me behind for a bit just to get his point across."

"It was him, wasn't it?" Louis stopped her just as she turned to leave. She turned back questionably, still chewing on her candy. "When we first met you said you were having troubles with someone too."

"The Doctor, yes," Avalon smiled. "You probably saw we have a very, uh, tetchy relationship."

"Why did you lie?"

Avalon blinked, and crossed looks with Cosette who was just as lost as she was. "I-I'm sorry? Lied about what?"

"You said your troubles were not of the heart but...they are," Louis said and instantly saw Avalon stiffen.

"I-I don't...they aren't," Avalon left it clear. "I barely know him! In fact, that's the problem. He refuses to tell me anything about himself. How can I have troubles with the 'heart' if I barely know the man?"

"You can't usually command the heart, sweetheart," Cosette said kindly.

Avalon was completely red in the face. "You two are funny! So funny, I almost forgot to laugh. I'll go laugh at home."

"Good luck," Louis honestly said, causing further nervousness in Avalon.

"F-funny," Avalon continued to mumble as she walked away.

~ 0 ~

In the library of the TARDIS, Avalon laid comfortably on the couch with a thin book in her hands. Once more, she'd tried to sleep but found it was impossible despite how tired she felt. By now, she was used to it. At least now she had even bigger collection of fairytales to read and pass by the time. Lena had been with her for as long as she could until she nearly fell off her couch chair in one moment. It wasn't until Avalon verbally told Lena she was free to go asleep that Lena finally went off. Five minutes later, someone else came into the library.

"Look what I have for you," the Doctor waved a small vial in his hand and approached the couch.

Avalon raised her gaze briefly then returned to her book. "Whatever that is, I am not drinking it."

"Lena told me you were having trouble sleeping so I went ahead and made you a little sleep draught," the Doctor sat down beside her. "One of these is guaranteed to make you sleep for eight hours just like you need to."

"How kind of you, but I am not drinking that," Avalon pushed his hand away.

The Doctor sighed and lowered the vial. "Is this because you're still upset with me?"

"Hmm..."

The Doctor rolled his head and put the vial down on the table in front of them. "You would really rather not sleep because you're angry with me?"

"I'm a proud woman. There-" Avalon sarcastically began, "-is something you now know about me." And just as quickly as the sarcasm came, it dropped from her face to be replaced with a big frown. "Too bad it's a one way street."

"I thought you weren't going to ask me anymore…"

"And have I asked?"

"Avalon-"

"I consider you my friend, you know," Avalon put down her book. "You are truly the most interesting friend I have ever made. And I am trying my best not to care but...you told me that here I wouldn't have to hide my feelings. So I'm not."

"That is fair," the Doctor solemnly agreed.

"Can I just ask one thing and get an honest answer?" she shifted to face him on the couch. "One thing and then I will never ever bring up the topic again," the Doctor nodded and motioned her to go ahead. "What happened that made you so scared to share your past?"

The question froze the Doctor in his spot. There was an indescribable expression on his face, but there was also a clear solace flashing across his eyes. Avalon's anger washed away once she understood there was truly something that happened preventing him from talking freely. "Whatever hurt you, whoever hurt you, should not have this power over you. It's an infinite TARDIS but there's no need to be alone with so many people in it." She set her book on the coffee table and surprised him by kissing him on the cheek. "Goodnight, fairytale man."

Once more she left the Doctor quite startled, and with a funny feeling inside.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

So when I read the summary of this comic story I felt like I just had to write it! It was so cool and interesting, though if you've read it you'll realize I had to change some things so that it wouldn't form part of the comic's overall arc. I hope you guys liked it!

And as for Avalon, I hope she didn't come across as demanding because that's totally not what I envision her doing here. I just felt that even if Avalon tried to ignore the fact the Doctor never spoke about his past, she just couldn't keep it up. She's grown up hearing so many things about him and now to have him so close and yet so far doesn't make it easy. At least now she kind of got closure by realizing that the Doctor had to have gone through something big to make him shut down like that.

 **For the Reviews:**

Littleperson930: Thanks! I hope you liked this chapter! :)

* * *

 **P.S** Guys, I think I've found Avalon's & the Doctor's theme song: _Jesse & Joy's "Outer Space"_. It felt like it was just _their_ song, you get me? Check it out and let me know what you thought!


	9. All Gobbled Up

While his companions slept, the Doctor roamed the TARDIS trying to find some entertainment. However, in the middle of it, the TARDIS began humming in an odd manner...like it was trying to tell him something. Stopping, the Doctor carefully thought it over.

"Avalon and Rory are fine, I just saw them..." he checked the two off his list, "...Amy and Lena...Amy usually's fine, but Lena..." he nodded, "...it has to be Lena. What's wrong with her, old girl? Does she need medication?" he was safe in assuming that the TARDIS would bring up Lena's bedroom for him. Sure enough, when he was nearing on a door he began to hear Lena's cries. "Lena?" he knocked on her door. "Baby sister, what's going on?"

"I'M SORRY!" she had screamed and the Doctor, panicking, ran right into the room. Lena was sitting on her bed, a bit sweaty and panting. Her eyes were wide and looking from one thing to another.

"Lena?" the Doctor cautiously approached her bed, assuming this was probably an effect of a bad dream.

Lena's eyes locked with his and immediately softened. "Big brother, did I wake you?"

The Doctor smiled, a bit amused, and shook his head. "Lena, you're the one who woke up screaming. I'd like to focus on you instead."

But that didn't please her. With a snort, she looked down. "Story of my life."

"What's wrong? Do you want me to call Avalon?" the Doctor thought that maybe Lena would feel more comfortable talking with her sister. Seeing as there was nothing physically wrong with Lena, he could go get Avalon now.

"No!" Lena had gasped suddenly, startling him. "I mean...I don't...I don't want her to come for nothing." She swallowed hard.

"It doesn't look like nothing..." the Doctor noted. There was a different sort of fear sitting in Lena's eyes and it made him worry. "I know it's not the same because we haven't known each other for a long time, but...you could talk to me about anything."

Lena contemplated for a moment. Could she trust him with a secret that had been a burden on her ever since she could remember? A secret that she'd learned to put away in the deepest corner of her mind but was now forcing its way back to the surface because...because of where they were.

"Lena?" the Doctor called when the brunette had gone silent.

"You can't tell anyone," she began in a faint whisper.

"I won't-"

"I mean you literally cannot tell anyone, Doctor," Lena looked him directly in the eyes. "Especially not Avalon."

"I swear I won't," the Doctor raised a hand. "But what is it?"

Lena swallowed hard and looked down, biting her lip. "I...I know something...that I really shouldn't. That I wished I didn't." She closed her eyes for a moment, her lower lip becoming like a chewing gum. "Because it makes me feel really guilty."

"What is it?" the Doctor reached for her hand. The fact she was saying words like those and looking like she did was a big red alert that this was no ordinary nightmare she had.

"When I was young, a lot of times I couldn't go outside and play because of my illness so Avalon would invite Amy, Rory and our friend Mels to play inside instead. Our favorite game was hide-and-seek and one time...when I was meant to be hiding...I heard something I shouldn't have from my parents." Lena closed her eyes again and gripped the Doctor's hand. "I really wish I hadn't heard it, big brother. Because then I wouldn't have turned into an accomplice and I wouldn't be lying to my sister every day."

The Doctor, although confused, was beginning to make connections on his own but he decided to let Lena get it off her chest. He assumed she had yet to tell anyone and it would do her good to have one opportunity.

"We don't look alike, Avalon and I, not because we're fraternal twins...but because we're not twins at all. I-I don't know what we are, if we're not, but I just know that Avalon isn't my mother's daughter," Lena sniffled more and more as she spoke the words out loud. "I was young, and I got scared...so I ran out before I could finish hearing my parents. Since then I keep getting the same dream over and over of that moment, like a plague..."

"You've been carrying that secret for a long time," the Doctor patted her hand gently.

"I was good at keeping it away," Lena admitted. "But then we came here-" she gestured to the TARDIS as a whole, "-where I thought that Avalon could finally start her own life but instead she keeps focusing on me and missing the bigger picture. It makes me feel awful that she spends all this time on me when I'm not even her sister."

"Avalon has a big heart, and I think she would rather die than let anything happen to you," the Doctor smiled. "But that's no reason to feel guilty, Lena. You should feel special that someone loves you this much."

"I can't, because I don't deserve it,"Lena shook her head.

"What? Lena!"

"It's true!"

"No, it's really not. You've given Avalon the gift of sisterhood, a confidant from the very start of her life. It's always been you two and that is something that no one can replace!"

"I can't tell her," Lena bit her lip, expecting for the Doctor to give her some sermon about telling the truth because Avalon deserved it.

"If you think that's what needs to be done, then you have my support," he surprised her with instead.

"You really...would keep this from her?"

"It's not my story to tell."

"I just...I just don't want you to think that I'm being selfish by not telling Avalon. I-I'm not a bad person, I promise. I just...I would like to spare Avalon from the truth. Because one thing I heard from my parents was that Avalon never had to know."

"I imagine they love her too much to tell her the truth," the Doctor reasoned, and Lena shrugged. "A usual case within adoptive parents. They fear the biological parent or parents would try to take the child from them."

"But Avalon isn't a child anymore. And I think it's really more about my Dad," Lena sighed. "Because my Mum was reproaching him why he never revealed if Avalon was his daughter or not. Isn't that weird?"

"A bit," the Doctor admitted but didn't put that much thought to it. "But parents make the oddest decisions for their children, trust me."

Lena looked at him for a moment, getting that same strange feeling that he was saying this out of experience. "Big brother...did you have children at one point?"

The Doctor's eyebrows rose, and he took his hand from Lena's. "Um..."

Lena saw the struggle to come up with an answer and smiled. "You don't have to tell me. But just like you, I'm always here if you'd like to talk." She scooted closer and hugged him, thinking that both of them needed one at the moment.

~ 0 ~

To say Avalon was upset of the newest destination the Doctor had for them was way past an understatement. He knew, Lena knew, Amy knew, Rory knew that she detested the beach and yet somehow...they had all decided to go to a _beach_. A big ole Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro, the biggest and 'coolest' as stated by the Doctor. Avalon did not care how flashy nor how big this Carnival was, she was not stepping out of the box and that was that.

Did no one understand?

"We're here!" the Doctor cheered when the box had finally stopped.

Nope, guess no one.

"Off we go!" the Doctor rushed towards the doors, Amy and Rory right behind him.

Lena cast a glance back to her twin who sat glumly on the chairs beside the console. Lena sighed and walked towards Avalon, "You don't want to see Rio?" she questioned softly.

"Frankly, the only thing I want to see is my pillow," Avalon mumbled and jumped off the chair, her hand rubbing a circle on her temple. She could feel a a headache coming on from her lack of sleep.

"You do look a bit...pale," Lena observed her twin with concern, "Have you slept?"

"C'mon, Lena, you know me," Avalon flashed a small smile and turned for the corridors, "Sleep hates me."

"Maybe we can ask the Doctor to help you," Lena tried following but Avalon turned back in an instant, making Lena bump into her.

"No, don't you dare," Avalon pointed a warning finger at Lena, "I don't want any help from no bow-tie wearing alien. Plus, I'm crossed with him right now. He knows I dislike beaches and yet..."

"Yeah, Avalon?" Amy poked her head inside the TARDIS with a crossed face, "You can come out, it's _not_ Rio."

"It's not?" Lena turned with a disappointed expression, "Aw!"

"Surprise, surprise, he got it wrong," Avalon flashed a small smile and strode towards the doors, "Good."

"But I wanted to see the beach!" Lena trailed after her.

Avalon stepped out to see a cemetery as the environment, "Never mind..." she mumbled. Cemetery or beach? Today was definitely not her day.

"Big brother, what happened here?" Lena crossed her arms while she gave her best mock-irritated frown, "I was promised sunshine and music!"

"May have been a bit of a mix up," the Doctor walked a bit ahead and came to an abrupt halt, "Ooh, feel that, though, what's that?" he bounced in place for a second, "Ground feels strange...just me?"

"Yes," Avalon compelled to make the clarification.

"That's weird," he had ignored her as he looked around.

"What's weird?" Rory asked.

"Doctor, stop trying to distract us. We're in the wrong place," Amy sighed as the Doctor ran around to the other side of a church.

"Yeah, it's freezing here," Lena shivered and hugged herself, "I dressed for Rio..."

"Lena go get changed," Avalon ordered, "I don't want you catching a cold."

"But-"

"Go," Avalon pointed. With a sigh, Lena returned inside the box.

The Doctor was plucking some grass and sifting it through his fingers, "Blue grass. Patches of it all round the graveyard. So, Earth, 2020-ish, ten years in your future, wrong continent for Rio, I'll admit, but it's not a massive overshoot."

Amy noticed three people on the other side of the valley, waving at them apparently, "Why are those people waving at us?"

"Can't be," the Doctor murmured, too engrossed with the grass to notice.

Rory started waving back but Avalon pushed his hand down and shook her head, "Don't wave until we know who they are."

The Doctor finally looked up and took out some binoculars from his jacket and took a look, "It's...hm, it's you two," he pointed at Amy and Rory, "...and...Lena," he lowered his binoculars.

"What? That can't be right," Avalon snatched the binoculars and took a look for herself.

"But we're here," Rory looked at each other, "How can we be up there?"

"Ten years in your future. Come to relive past glories, I'd imagine," the Doctor said.

"But where am I?" Avalon frowned and lowered the binoculars, "How come I'm not there?"

"Maybe you got married and moved away," Amy teased.

"Don't be ridiculous, I'd never leave Lena."

"Maybe she forced you to," the Doctor mumbled, thinking no one had heard him, until...

Avalon whacked him on the chest with his binoculars, " _What_ did you just say?"

"Nothing, nothing..."

"No, you said she'd force me to leave, why would Lena do that?"

"I don't know, I..." the Doctor sighed and took a look at the pair behind the angry ginger for help.

"I'd measure your words very carefully, Doctor," Avalon warned with a pointed finger and narrowed eyes.

"Avalon, don't overreact," Amy moved to the ginger's side and swayed her. Fortunately, it rocked Avalon into a nearlike sleep, her eyes even closing momentarily.

"Yeah...sorry," Avalon mumbled and walked ahead, still half asleep.

"That woman is asleep!" Amy exclaimed.

"I've never seen her like that before," Rory mumbled as he moved up as well.

"That's the only side I've seen," the Doctor remarked but still agreed the ginger had not looked so good, even for her natural feisty self.

"I should talk to her, see what's going on," Rory resolved, "She'll tell me and then we can fix it."

"Fix what?" Lena emerged from the TARDIS, now changed into warmer clothes as requested, ordered, by Avalon.

"Your sister nearly chewed my head off," the Doctor declared and made her laugh.

"You certainly have a way of pushing my sister's buttons, don't you?" she stepped off the TARDIS onto the mushy grass.

"It's not my fault she doesn't sleep," the Doctor shrugged, "And I'd really not get into that whole mess so how about we go check that big mining thing, eh?" he pointed back

Two different reactions surfaced in the trio: Lena, as expected, simply nodded, while Amy and Rory wore irritated frowns and shook their heads.

"We want the beach," the engaged couple declared.

"But it's a big mining thing," the Doctor insisted, "Way better than Rio! Rio doesn't have a big mining thing!"

"We're not going to have a look," Amy warned.

"Let's go and have a look!" the Doctor took Lena's hand and walked down into the valley.

Rory sighed, "If he can't get us to Rio, how's he ever going to get us back home?"

"Did you not see, over there?" Amy nodded up to the hill where their future selves remained, "It all works out fine."

"After everything we've seen, we just drop back into our old lives, the nurse and the kissogram?"

"I guess. He's getting away," Amy took Rory by the arm and started off when suddenly Rory halted them.

"Hang on. What are you doing with that?" he pointed to her ring finger.

"Engagement ring! I thought you liked me wearing it," Amy raised an eyebrow, not so sure anymore with the face Rory was making.

"Amy! You could lose it! Cost...a lot of money, that!"

"Hm," Amy removed the ring and handed it over, "Spoilsport."

"C'mon, let's go put it away...to _safety_ ," Rory eyed her, taking the groaning ginger back into the TARDIS.

After setting the ring back in its box and placed promptly on the console, the two headed back for the doors.

"If we get lost it's your fault," Amy warned as they stepped out.

"We won't get..." Rory stopped once he saw a woman and a little boy standing in front of him and Amy, as if waiting.

"Well, that was quick!" the woman, a brunette, remarked.

"...was it?" Amy replied in an answer as she nervously glanced at Rory.

"It's great that you came."

"Bit retro," the young boy was staring at the TARDIS, "What is it, portable crime lab?"

"Oh, er..." Rory looked back at the box, "...sort of."

"Ambrose Northover," the woman introduced herself as she shook Rory's hand, Amy next, "I was the one who called. I run the meals on wheels for the whole valley. This is my son, Elliot," she gestured to the boy.

"Where's your uniforms?" he questioned the pair.

"Don't be cheeky, Elliot, they're plain clothes," Ambrose scolded, "CID, is it? Anyway, it's over here."

As the mother and son departed, Rory and Amy exchanged uneasy glances...what was going on?

~ 0 ~

"Avalon? Avalon! What are you doing?" Lena gasped and ran forwards.

Avalon was already at the drill site in front of the gated doors entrance...which she was currently _climbing_ up on. "What does it look like I'm doing?" Avalon grunted and swung one leg over before looking down.

"What? Get down from there!" Lena ordered in her best authoritative tone. But when she saw Avalon swinging her other leg she gave up on that and turned to the Doctor, "Do something!"

"Um...it's restricted access..." he looked around, "No unauthorized personnel. Mm..." he gave the ginger a smirk.

"Hm," Avalon smirked and hopped off, now on the other side of the doors.

"You're not supposed to encourage her!" Lena whacked the Doctor on the arm, "Avalon," she scolded again, "You're gonna get yourself thrown in jail again!" Avalon simply shrugged and turned, walking off. Lena shook her head then gasped again when the Doctor used his sonic and unlocked the doors for them, "That's breaking and entering!"

"What did I break, little sister?" he gestured to the unbroken locks, "I...soniced and entered, totally different," he opened the doors open.

"You and Avalon are going to go to jail!"

"Ah, been there done that," the Doctor linked arms with her, "We'll keep each other company."

Lena scoffed, "You and Avalon would not last five minutes in a small cell."

"Hm, I take that as a challenge," he declared and Lena gave him a pointed look, "...er...when she's not cranky."

"Ha!" Lena laughed and took him inside.

~ 0 ~

Ambrose and Elliot had brought Amy and Rory to the graveyard where a plot laid with no tomb inside. Ambrose stepped beside it and peered down, "It's a family plot, see. My aunt Gladys died six years ago. Her husband, Alun, died a few weeks back. He lived in the house two doors down. There's not many of us left up here now."

"Mum, they don't care about that! They want to know about the dead bodies," Elliot reminded.

"Yes, sorry," Ambrose nodded in agreement, "Well, they always wanted to be buried in the same plot, together. But when we went to bury Uncle Alun, Gladys wasn't there. Gone. Body, coffin, everything."

"What?" Rory blinked, glancing at Amy who was just as confused as he was.

"The mad thing is, on the surface, the grave was untouched. No signs of it having been messed with."

"But..." Amy began but shook her head, "...nope, sorry, not getting it."

"Nobody has touched the grave since my aunt was buried," Ambrose reiterated, "But when they dug it open, the body was gone. How is that possible?"

~ 0 ~

"What about now, can you feel it now?" the Doctor asked the twins as they strolled through halls inside the drill station.

"It's the ground," Avalon sighed, "It just feels like... _ground_."

"But it doesn't feel like it should," he explained, unaware of the roll of eyes she'd given him behind his back.

"It's ten years in the future, maybe this is how the ground feels like now," Lena offered.

"Good thought! But no. It doesn't," he shook his head. They stopped at the sound of a whirring not too far up ahead. The Doctor listened carefully for the direction, "Hear that, drill in start-up mode. Afterwaves of a recent seismological shift and blue grass," he still held a few pieces of the blue grass from outside...and placed it in his mouth.

Avalon made a distasteful face when she saw that, Lena simply giggling when he made a face and had to pulled the grass off his tongue.

"You are disgusting," Avalon declared, "Have you always had that...erratic quality?"

"No..." he genuinely considered, "That's recent."

"Ugh, don't _ever_ kiss my twin nor me," Avalon shivered and moved on ahead.

"I gotta agree there," Lena made him shake off the grass still in his hand, "Repeat after me: blue grass is _not_ food."

"Blue grass is not food," the Doctor muttered.

"Hey, maybe I can be a teacher," she clapped, "If I can make a 907 year old alien pay attention, I'm sure I can make 5 year olds."

"That's what you want to be, then?" the Doctor took her by the arm and led her after Avalon, "A school teacher?"

"Mm, I always liked the idea," she shrugged.

"My baby sister as a teacher, I can see that. And what about Avalon? What super-twin team are you making?"

Lena faintly smiled, "I...don't know. I don't actually know what she wants to be."

"Oh c'mon, isn't that one of the primary teachings you humans always do with your children?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow, "Always asking your kids what do you want to be when you grow up?"

Lena just shrugged, her smile completely gone, "I don't know. Avalon doesn't say much, she doesn't say anything, actually..."

"Not even Rory?"

Lena shook her head, "Rory's more of the comforting friend. But, she doesn't really say much about herself. Still, I'd rather have her consoling with Rory then to have no one. I mean, she comes to me, we have good talks, sometimes...I can get her to talk about what she wants, but those are rare times."

"I'm sorry," the Doctor genuinely said to her, "I promise after this I will get us all to a nice place, no beach, something calm and I'll make sure you get some sister time with Avalon. How does that sound?"

"That sounds really nice, thank you," she softly smiled.

The two finally entered the room of sound they'd heard, seeing Avalon being questioned by a woman with short, black hair, "Explain what you are doing here?"

"Time to go in and save your sis... _again_ ," the Doctor mumbled to Lena as he took out his psychic paper, the brunette chuckling as he moved ahead, "Hello, see you've met my friend here," he flashed the psychic paper to the woman, "Ministry of Drills, Earth and Science! New Ministry, quite big, just merged, lot of responsibility on our shoulders, don't like to talk about it. What're you doing?"

"None of your business," the woman looked at the trio with suspicion, even more towards the Doctor when he started moving around the monitors.

"Where are you getting these readings from?" he asked.

"Under the soil," the woman replied as she moved towards a hole in the ground with certain equipment around it.

Another man entered the room, "The drill's up and running again. What's going on? Who are these people?"

"Hi!" Lena waved, deciding to go ahead and give introductions seeing how the Doctor was at work and Avalon was...well..half-asleep again, "That's the Doctor and that's my sister, Avalon."

"Why's there a big patch of earth in the middle of your floor?" the Doctor looked up, curiously.

"We don't know, it just appeared overnight," the woman answered.

Lena walked closer to the hole and peered down, confused as she just saw soil. The Doctor stood up rather fast and looked at all of them, "Good, right, you all need to get out of here very fast," he rushed to the monitors.

"Why?" the woman raised an eyebrow.

"What's your name?"

"Nasreen Chaudhry."

"Look at the screens, Nasreen, your readings. It's moving," he pointed at the monitor.

"Lena, get away from there," Avalon instructed, currently rubbing her temple again with her head ache steadily growing.

The man that'd walked in had moved to the Doctor and Nasreen, irritated to see the stranger touching all their equipment, "Hey, that's specialized equipment! Get away from it."

"What is?" Nasreen asked the Doctor, concerned of the man's words.

"Why is there steam?" Lena frowned as said steam rose from the hole, "Avalon, come and look," she motioned for the ginger to move over.

"Lena, move away," Avalon made her twin stand up, "Doctor?" she called, "There's steam coming out of this thing. I'm gonna go on a wild guess and say it's not good."

"Very correct," he looked over his shoulder and saw the steam, "It's shifting when it shouldn't be shifting," he walked over.

"What shouldn't?" Nasreen asked, a bit irritated that none of her questions were being answered.

The ground started shaking as if an earthquake was striking, prompting the Doctor to quickly return to the monitors, "The ground, the soil, the earth, moving, but how? Why?"

"Is this an earthquake?" Lena stumbled back.

"What's going on?" the man demanded.

"Doubt it, baby sister," the Doctor looked around, "Cos it's only happening under this room," he said just as more holes formed on the ground as it subsided underneath, "It knows we're here. The ground's attacking us."

"No, that's not possible!" Nasreen exclaimed.

"Under the circumstances, I suggest... RUN!" the Doctor grabbed Nasreen and headed for the doors.

As Tony quickly followed, the twins made move only to have Lena get trapped.

"No!" Avalon turned, gasping at her fallen twin.

"Stay back, Avalon! Stay away from the earth!" the Doctor, quickly looking for a way around the opening holes.

"No, Avalon, go away," Lena tried waving Avalon to leave, "Don't-"

Avalon leaped over a hole and pushed everything she could to help Lena, "Don't be stupid, Lena. Like I'd ever leave you? Hm."

"Don't...just go," Lena pleaded, whimpered.

"Look, I got-AH!" Avalon found her feet being sucked by the ground underneath, "What the hell!?" she looked down with wide eyes, "Ah! It's pulling me down!" she gave a cry as she went further down.

"No! N-n-n-no!" Lena cried from her spot, feeling so incredibly useless being stuck, "Someone get me out of here so I can help

Luckily enough, the Doctor had found a way around the holes and ran towards them, "It's okay! It's okay!" he grabbed onto Avalon's hands while Nasreen and Tony ran to help the other twin in distress.

"Something's got my feet!" Avalon yelped as she sunk to her waist.

The Doctor fell to his stomach with the great pull the ginger had endured, but never let go, "It's okay, we're going to get you out of here, you'll see."

Avalon had stopped her shouts and looked around with shiny eyes, "Doctor, what is it, why is it doing this?"

"Stay calm, keep hold of my hand, don't let go," he looked over to the others, "Your drill, shut it down! Go! Now!"

Lena was finally pulled away from the trap/hole she was in and so Nasreen and Tony rushed off. Lena tried moving to help the Doctor when Avalon gave a shout.

"Stay where you are! Don't move!"

"But Avalon, I can help-"

"STAY BACK!"

"But..." Lena looked all around and saw the holes that blocked her way.

"I didn't save you for you to be swallowed down!" Avalon snapped, "So you stay back and you let whatever happen happen."

"Nothing is going to happen!" the Doctor assured, his grip tightening on her

hands, "We're gonna get you out! But you gotta stay calm. If you struggle, it'll make things worse. Keep hold of my hand. I'm not going to let you go."

"Ah!" Avalon's arms slipped from his grip as she sunk even lower, "I-i-it's pulling me!" she cried.

"Stay calm. Hold on," he gripped her one wrist with both his hands, "If they can just shut down the drill..."

"I can't hold on!" Avalon sunk down to her neck and arms, "Doctor, you gotta tell me what's down here..." she swallowed, her eyes becoming shinier as more water built in them, "What is under the earth? I don't want to suffocate under there!"

"Avalon, just follow orders please. Concentrate. That's all. Concentrate. Don't you give up! That's not the Avalon I know!"

"Please don't let them take me..." she whimpered as she went down again, her chin beginning to go under as well, "...look after Lena," she said before she sank down.

"Avalon, no!" Lena rushed forwards, forgetting the holes in her haste.

"No! No!" the Doctor shouted as the ginger was swallowed down by the earth, "Avalon!" he dug through the dirt frantically, "No! No! No! No. No! No. No!" he slapped the ground and stood up, using his sonic on the spot, "No!"

"My sister!" Lena panted as she reached the Doctor, "Where...Avalon...no!" she shouted.

Nasreen and Tony ran back inside the room, confused to see they were short one ginger, "Where is she?" Nasreen asked.

"She's gone. The ground took her," the Doctor muttered.

"And it's my fault...again," Lena dropped to her knees and stared at the hole, "Always has to save me and then _she_ gets in trouble!" she ran her hands through her hair, completely frantic, "Always, always, always _me_!"

"Is that what happened to Mo? Are they dead?" Tony questioned, the Doctor shooting the man a death glare as he was _not_ helping the case.

The Doctor bent down and helped a frantic Lena to her feet, "Baby sister, baby sister, _breathe_ ," he gave the order, "I need you to be calm and to _breathe_!" he articulated the last word as he searched inside his jacket and pulled out her inhaler, "Breathe!"

Lena took the inhaler and took her breaths as requested, slowly calming down with each take, "Doctor, you have to save her, please," she sniffled, "I'll help you, but...she needs to be here and she needs to be alive!"

"Exactly what we're going to do," he assured her and took a breath himself before he started to think, "So...it's not quicksand, clearly. She didn't just sink..."

"She said something was pulling her," Lena reminded, wiping away some tears off her face, "If she was being pulled then it meant what ever was down there wanted her."

"The _ground_ wanted her?" Nasreen raised a doubtful eyebrow.

"You said the ground was dormant, just a patch of earth, when you first saw it this morning," the Doctor looked at her nod, "And the drill had been stopped."

"That's right," Tony said.

"But when you re-started the drill, the ground fought back."

"So what, the ground wants to stop us drilling?! Doctor, that is ridiculous," Nasreen shook her head.

"Don't you dare call this ridiculous if it just _swallowed_ my sister!" Lena snapped, surprising the Doctor as he soniced the hole.

Lena _never_ snapped. But she looked so frustrated, so angry and so...sad. The Doctor felt a flash of guilt as he recalled the ginger taking a death shot for him as well. Once again, she'd taken a bullet for someone and ended up hurt.

He could see this as a recurring theme for the ginger.

His thoughts were interruped when the ground started vibrating, "Oh! Oh of course! It's bio-programming!"

"What?" Tony frowned.

"Bio-programming," the Doctor clapped, "You use bio-signals to resonate the internal molecular structure of natural objects! It's mainly used in engineering and construction, mostly jungle planets, but that's way in the future, and not here. What's it doing here?"

"Sorry, did you just say _jungle_ planets?" Nasreen raised an eyebrow.

"You're not making any sense, man!" Tony added.

The Doctor took a moment and made a mock-offended face, "'Scuse me, I'm making perfect sense, you're just not keeping up. The earth, the ground beneath our feet, was bio-programmed to attack."

"Yeah, even if that were possible, which, by the way, it's not, why?" Nasreen asked.

"Stop you drilling! We find what's doing the bio-programming, find Avalon, get her back. Ssh ssh ssh! Have I gone mad?! I've gone mad!"

"No time for personal questions, big brother," Lena sighed, "Can we find Avalon now?"

"Ssh ssh! Silence! Absolute silence!" the Doctor held a finger to them and shushed, "You stopped the drill, right?"

"Yes," Nasreen nodded.''

"And you've only got the one drill?"

"Yes!"

"You're sure about that?"

"Yes!"

But the Doctor dropped to the ground on his stomach and pressed an ear to the gun beside the hole where sure enough he heard that faint whirring sound again.

"Doctor, what is it?" Lena stepped forwards, for a second thinking he could hear Avalon still shouting. She shook her head and snapped out of those thoughts.

"So, if you shut the drill down... why can I still hear drilling?" the Doctor looked to Nasreen and Tony, "It's under the ground."

"That's not possible," Tony shot the idea down.

The Doctor ignored the man as he jumped bajo to his feet and ran towards the machinery with his screwdriver.

"Oh, no, what, what are you doing?" Nasreen quickly followed when she heard the screwdriver making its usual noises.

"Hacking into your records. Reports, samples, sensors, good, just unite the data, make it all one big conversation, let's have a look. So. We are here and this is your drill hole. 21.009 kilometres. Well done!"

"Thank you. It's taken us a long time," Nasreen faintly smiled with pride.

"Why here, though? Why drill on this site?"

"We found patches of grass in this area, containing trace minerals unseen in this country for 20 million years."

"The blue grass? Oh, Nasreen, those trace minerals weren't X marking the spot, saying dig here," the Doctor gave a small chuckle, "They were a warning. Stay away. Cos while you've been drilling down... somebody else has been drilling up," he pulled up a screen with a vertical network of the tunnels underneath the ground, "Oh, beautiful. Network of tunnels all the way down."

"No, no, we've surveyed that area," Tony said.

"Clearly you only saw what you went looking for," Lena shot him an irritated look.

Nasreen noticed three little greeb dots that were moving up via the tunnels registered, "What are they?"

"Heat signals," the Doctor started looking into it, "Wait, dual readings, hot and cold, doesn't make sense. And now they're moving. Fast. How many people live

nearby?"

"Just my daughter and her family. The rest of the staff travel in," Tony answered.

"Grab this equipment and follow me," the Doctor instructed and headed for the door with Lena.

"Why? What're we doing?!" Nasreen called.

The Doctor stopped ans turned around, "That noise isn't a drill. It's transport. Three of them, 30km down, rate of speed looks about 150km an hour. Should be here in...ooh, quite soon, 12 minutes," he picked up one of the computers, "Whatever bio-programmed the Earth is on its way up, now!"

~ 0 ~

The group were carrying computers and a wheelbarrow with more equipment as they trundled of the building.

"How can something be coming up when there's only the Earth's crust down there?" Tony insistingly asked.

"You saw the readings!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"But whoever is down there...they've got Avalon, right?" Lena hoped, "They took her..."

"Hopefully, and then we can have a nice little chat about that..." the Doctor mumbled, not so sure that a chat was what the creatures were coming for.

"Who are you, anyway?!" Nasreen cut in, "How can you know all this?"

They all stopped when a red light struck across the sky.

Lena gasped, "What was that?"

"No, no, no!" the Doctor took out across slingshot from his pocket and picked up a rock.

He shot the rock to the sky where a force field appeared at the contact in the form of a red light. He used the sonic and made visible the dome-shaped field around the village and drill site.

"Energy signal originating from under the Earth. We're trapped," the Doctor explained.

Rory and Amy joined the group with Ambrose and Elliot behind them.

"Doctor! Something weird's going on here, the graves are eating people," Rory really had no other way of putting it.

"And what was that in the sky?" Amy pointed above, "Red lights and stuff appeared."

"Energy barricade. Invisible to the naked eye," the Doctor waved them off, "We can't get out and no-one from the outside world can get in."

"What if we use the TARDIS?" Lena suggested.

"The what?!" Nasreen looked at the girl like she was crazy.

"No, those energy patterns would play havoc with the circuits. With a bit of time, maybe, but we've only got nine and a half minutes."

"Nine and a half minutes to what?" Amy raised an eyebrow.

"We're trapped. And something's burrowing towards the surface," Nasreen answered with and huff.

"Oh..." Amy nodded but blinked when she realized what had just been said, "No, wait, hold on, what!?"

"Wait, where's Ava?" Rory looked around, realizing they were missing some remarks.

"Get everyone inside the church!" the Doctor ordered the others as he picked up the computer he'd been taking out.

"Lena?" Amy asked, knowing the brunette would answer much easier than the Doctor.

"She was taken," Lena whispered, "Because of me."

"What d'you mean 'taken'? Where's she gone?" Rory demanded as he looked at the Doctor.

"She was taken. Into the Earth," the Doctor sighed.

"Into the Earth!?" both Amy and Rory exclaimed.

"She saved me, as usual, and she got swallowed down into the Earth," Lena sniffled, "It's my fault."

As Amy moved to comfort the lonely twin, Rory raged at the Doctor, "You need to get Ava back!"

"I will, I'll find her," the Doctor assured, glancing at Lena, "I'll find Avalon. I'll keep you all safe. I promise. Come on, please. I need you alongside me."

Lena nodded and together they all headed towards the church.

~ 0 ~

The group was buy setting up the brought equipment inside the chaotic mess the church's room was in.

Ambrose was closest to the door, overlooking everything that was happening with a frustrated face. She'd been told that her husband, Mo, had apparently

been sucked down into the Earth along with another girl. The whole thing was just mad!

"So we can't get out, we can't contact anyone. And something, the something that took my husband, is coming up through the Earth," she recited what she'd been told and it still didn't sound very convincing

"Yes. If we move quickly enough, we can be ready," the Doctor said

"No, stop. This has gone far enough. What is this?"

"He's telling the truth, love," Tony, her father, looked up from the equipment he was setting up.

"Come on! It's not the first time we've had no mobile or phone signals. Reception's always rubbish."

"Listen lady!" Lena nearly shouted, shocking her friends her voice could actually reach a level like that, "You can sit there and not believe a thing _or_ you can come and _help_! Your husband my sister are down there and I will not have you waste our time with your unbelieving rants!"

Ambrose stood still with blinking eyes, unsure of what to do or say next. The brunette looked awfully pale and frantic, something Ambrose didn't want to push even farther.

"Lena," Amy gently came forwards to her friend, "You need to calm down," she set an arm around Lena's shoulder, "It's not good for your health."

Nasreen looked between the frantic brunette and the stunned Ambrose. She stayed looking at Amberose and sighed, "Look, Ambrose, we saw the girl's sister get taken, OK? You saw the lightning in the sky. I have seen the impossible today, and the only person who's made any sense of it, for me, is the Doctor."

"Him?!" Ambrose cast a worried look to the Doctor.

"Me," he nodded.

"Can you get my dad back?" Elliot suddenly asked, making the room go silent as everyone looked at the Doctor for his answer

"Yes," he answered and walked towards Ambrose, "But I need you to trust me and do exactly as I say from this second onwards because we're running out of time."

"So tell us what to do," Ambrose breathed, resigned.

"Thank you. We have eight minutes to set up a line of defence. Bring me every phone, camera, every piece of recording or transmitting equipment you can find," he ordered, "Every burglar alarm, every movement sensor, every security light. I want the whole area covered with sensors."

The group nodded and rushed to do the task. The Doctor returned to Lena and Amy and signaled Amy to go ahead and follow Rory out. Once the ginger had left, he set his hands on Lena's shoulders and the brunette promptly looked up with tears in her eyes.

"It's my fault," she sniffled.

"No, it's not. Stop saying that, please," he hugged her.

"It's always my fault, big brother. I always get into trouble and need saving from Avalon. I don't deserve that."

"You're saying you don't deserve your twin sister's love?" the Doctor gave a short chuckle.

She parted to look up at him. "You know I don't."

"Doctor?" Ambrose poked her head back inside the room, "We need help outside," she pointed then rushed out again.

~ 0 ~

Ambrose and Rory finished hooking up cameras in ideal positions where the Doctor soniced them as the last touch.

Once back in the room, the Doctor monitored the oncoming green dots, "Right, we need to be ready for whatever's coming up," he looked to Elliot beside him, "I need a map of the village, marking where the cameras are going."

"I can't do the words. I'm dyslexic," the boy shrugged.

"Oh, that's all right, I can't make a decent meringue," the Doctor turned to him and smiled, "Draw like your life depends on it, Elliot," the boy nodded and ran off. A moment later the Doctor checked his watch and read the time, "6 minutes 40."

~ 0 ~

Lena watched the Doctor going through Ambrose's van, still confused why he needed this particular car. She went around to the back and opened the doors, "Refrigerators!" she called.

"Oi! What're you doing!?" Ambrose hollered as she walked by, her arms full of garden tools, or...weapons.

"Resources! Every little helps!" the Doctor poked his head around the van, Lena closing the doors.

"I still don't understand what this vehicle can provide for us," she sighed.

"Well, it's a bit chilly for a hideout, mind," Ambrose had joined them and set the tools in the front seat.

"What are those?" Lena eyed what Ambrose had set down.

"Like the Doctor said, every little helps."

The Doctor gave the woman a suspicious look and checked the pile, "No! No weapons," he shook his head and stepped back, "It's not the way I do things."

"You said we're supposed to defend ourselves."

"Oh, Ambrose, you're better than this. I'm asking nicely. Put them away," the Doctor linked his arm with Lena and walked off.

"She was just trying to help," Lena offered as a valid reason, "Her husband's gone missing."

"Your sister's gone missing," he pointed out, "I don't see you carrying a weapon," he stopped and eyed her outfit, "You're not...you're not-"

Lena laughed, the first real laugh she'd given since Avalon had been taken, "No, silly."

"Sorry," he gave a small chuckle, "But I mean you have lived with a feisty ginger who hides weapons in her shoes."

"But she never let me near them," Lena shook her head and started walking again, the Doctor going at her pace, "And you know, the only reason she knows how to use them is because she wanted to know how...protect me. It's not because she likes them."

The Doctor knew Lena was trying to sway his opinions on her twin with weaponry. Lena understood completely his opposition to them and knew that it was a big disagreement between him and Avalon. She just didn't want him to think that Avalon was a bad person for handling weapons. Avalon only used them because of, well...her...again.

"Everything Avalon is, is because of me," Lena continued, sighing, "She's stolen because of me, gone to jail because of me, learned weaponry because of me. But she's not a bad person, big brother. Honest. She's really sweet and caring, you two will be fine."

And the Doctor had to make another stop there, "Why are you saying that?"

Lena slowly turned with fiddling hands, "Because I'm going home after this."

"What?"

"I don't want to travel anymore," she continued walking again.

"But...b-b-but...what!?" the Doctor shook his head and quickly caught up with the brunette, "Lena, Lena, what are you saying?"

Lena sighed, "Let's be honest, big brother, I stink at traveling. I get scared of everything, I can't run very fast, and I'm not smart. This is not me."

"Lena, you're just saying that because of the circumstances. You'll see that once you have Avalon back-"

"No, Doctor," she turned to him with watery eyes, "I don't want to do this anymore. I keep getting my sister into trouble. She's supposed to be traveling and having fun and actually making a life of her own. But with me here she's just doing what she'd do at home, only here she can actually die," she swallowed hard, "I don't want to be the reason my sister loses her life."

"And you think that Avalon would just stay here when you go home?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow, challenging her thoughts, "The only reason she's here is because of you. If you leave then she'll leave."

"No, that won't happen. I'll make her see that she has a right to make her own life. She needs to go out and meet new people, talk about herself and not focus on me. And you're gonna help me."

"What? How and why?" the Doctor crossed his arms, feeling like a child but nonetheless upset.

"You're going to drop me off home in secret and for no reason at all, you are not to bring Avalon home. And why? Simple, because I'm your baby sister and I am asking you to help me."

The Doctor made a face and bowed his head, "I hate that line. I really hate that line."

"Please, Doctor? Please help me?" Lena took his hands and continued to plead, "Without me Avalon can finally live her life and explore the world with no worries about some sick ole twin and have some fun because she really deserves to have fun and even maybe meet someone who'll make really happy and-"

"Alright!" the Doctor gave up and sighed, stumbling back with the great hug Lena attacked him with, "But, fair warning, if you never hear from me again it'll be because your sister killed me and buried me in some planet."

"That's...oddly accurate based off her personality," Lena admitted and shrugged, "But I'm sure she won't...ish," she quickly scurried off.

The Doctor took a breath and continued on the way, actually praying to every deity he knew that the ginger wouldn't react so...murderously when she'd find her twin had departed without her knowledge.

~ 0 ~

Back in the church, Elliot ran inside with his finished map paper in his hands, "I did it!" he exclaimed and handed it to the Doctor who was checking one of the computer screens.

"Look at that!" the Doctor saw the map, "Perfect! Dyslexia never stopped Da Vinci or Einstein, it's not stopping you."

"I don't understand what you're going to do," Elliot admitted with confusion.

"Two-phase plan. First, the sensors and cameras will tell us when something arrives. Second, if something does arrive, I use this to send a sonic pulse through that network of devices, a pulse which would temporarily incapacitate most things in the universe. "

"Knock 'em out. Cool," Elliot nodded.

"Lovely place to grow up, round here."

"Suppose. I want to live in a city one day. Soon as I'm old enough, I'll be off."

"I was the same, where I grew up," the Doctor related as he went back to a a monitor.

"Did you get away?"

"Yeah."

"Do you ever miss it?"

"So much..." the Doctor answered a bit late on it, could he be blamed though?

"Is it monsters coming?" Elliot peered at the screens, "Have you met monsters

before?"

"Yeah."

"You scared of them?"

"No! They're scared of me," the Doctor smirked.

"Will you really get my dad back?"

"No question."

"I left my headphones at home," Elliot remembered and ran out.

~ 0 ~

After setting the last of the cameras, the group returned to the church but had trouble getting actually _inside_ as the wooden door would not budge open.

"I can't open it! It keeps sticking!" Ambrose exclaimed as she continuously pushed, "The wood's warped."

The Doctor had gone to help Ambrose, Lena quickly hurrying to help, "Oi you two!" the Doctor looked back at Amy and Rory, "Any time you want to help!"

"What? Can't you sonic it?" Amy raised an eyebrow, heading over nonetheless to help.

"It doesn't do wood!"

Rory snorted, "That is _rubbish_!"

The Doctor stopped pushing to turn around, showing his offended face, "Oi! Don't diss the sonic!"

"Oi!" Lena grabbed him by the arm, "Get back to helping!"

Once inside, the ground had started shaking with the nearing creatures. The Doctor ran to the computers, dodging the falling objects from above, "See if we can get a fix!" he tried working on them but after a couple second it sparked and shut off with the power gone.

"No power," Tony remarked.

"It's deliberate," the Doctor mumbled.

"What do we do now?" Lena asked, already afraid as the shaking wouldn't cease.

Tony turned on a bright torch that gave some light in the room. The Doctor looked away from the screens with a face, "Nothing. We've got nothing! They sent an energy surge to wreck our systems."

Once the shaking stopped, everyone gathered together and took a look around.

"Is everyone OK? Is anyone hurt?" Rory questioned them.

"I'm fine," Nasreen sighed.

"Lena?" Rory turned to her, knowing out of everyone she'd be the easiest to hurt.

"Fine too," she crossed her arms.

"Anyone?"

"I'm good," Tony said.

"Me too," Ambrose nodded.

A loud rumbling emerged from the outside, making everyone freeze in their spots.

"Doctor, what was that?" Amy whispered.

"It's like the holes at the drill station," Tony remembered.

"Is this how they happened?" Nasreen asked the Doctor.

He knelt down and bent over to listen to the ground, "It's coming through the final layer of Earth."

"What is!?" Nasreen cried.

The Doctor stood quickly just as silence overtook the area.

"The banging's stopped," Lena mumbled, her eyes darting from one place to another.

Ambrose had started looking around and realized something very important, "Where's Elliot? Has anyone seen Elliot? Did he come in? Was he in when the door was shut? Who counted him back in? Who saw him last?"

Everyone looked around for the missing boy, no one seeing the Doctor stiffen, "...I did," he answered eventually.

"Where is he?" Ambrose turned to him.

"He said he was going to get headphones."

"And you let him go? He was out there on his own?"

Suddenly, they heard pounding on the other side of the door, followed by Elliot's pleading voice, "Mum! Grandpa Tony! Let me in!"

"Elliot!" Ambrose ran to the door, "He's out there! Help me!" she looked at the others.

"Open the door! Mum! There's something out here!"

Everyone hurried to the door and worked on opening it, the wood once again stuck.

"Push, Elliot, push, Elliot!" Ambrose called.

"Mum!"

"Hurry up!" Ambrose ordered the others.

"Mummy..."

"Come on!" Tony exclaimed and finally opened the door, Ambrose being the first to run out.

"Elliot!" she called but saw no one around anymore, "Where is he? He was here. He was here! Elliot!" she ran towards the graveyard.

"Ambrose, don't go running off!" the Doctor called after her, Tony going to follow her out.

~ 0 ~

By the time the rest of the group had caught up to Ambrose and Tony, a lot had happened. Ambrose had found her son's headphones and was attacked by a creature with apparently green scaly skin. Tony, in trying to protect his daughter, had gotten lashed with a...tongue? on his neck.

"My dad's hurt!" Ambrose was at her father's side, trying to help him up.

"Get him into the church now!" the Doctor ordered the others.

"Elliot's gone," Ambrose whimpered, "They've killed him, haven't they?"

"No, they can't have!" Lena shook her head frantically, "Don't say that!"

"N-n-n-n-no!" the Doctor tried calming both women down, "Listen to me, both of you, _all_ of you," he eyed the remaining three silent humans, "Now, they've taken three people, when they could've just killed them up here. There's still hope, Lena, Ambrose. There is always hope."

"Then why've they taken him?" Ambrose sniffled.

"And my sister," Lena looked down, her eyes getting ready to release fresh new

tears.

"We'll find Avalon and Elliot," the Doctor assured both, "I promise. But first I've gotta stop this attack. Please, get inside the church."

"Come on, Dad," Ambrose helped Tony up with the help of Amy.

"Lena, you go with Amy," the Doctor instructed.

She nodded and helped the women get Tony back.

"So, what now? Rory raised an eyebrow, still in the dark about the exact plan going through the alien's head.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor walked through the street wearing sunglasses that picked up heat signatures all around him. He noticed something move in the bushes that hadn't given off heat, "Cold blood," he smirked and started to sing-song, "I know they are..." he moved towards the meals on wheels van where he took a fire extinguisher from the front seat and shut the door, all the meanwhile casually whistling.

Through the van's mirror he saw a creature heading towards him. He spun out of the way when it attacked and used the extinguisher on it. Once the creature screamed, Rory jumped out of the van's backdoor and together pushed the creature in the refrigerated back and locked the door.

"We got it!" Rory exclaimed.

"Defending the planet with meals on wheels!" the Doctor laughed and raised hands to do a high-five when a rumbling cut them off.

"What was that?" Rory looked around.

"Sounds like they're leaving..."

"Without this one?" Rory nodded to the van. The darkness went away and allowed the sun to once more hit the area, "Looks like we scared them off!"

"I don't think so. Now both sides have hostages," the Doctor mumbled.

~ 0 ~

"NO!" Avalon gasped awake, her hands flinging to her neck...only to have them crash against the clear wall in front of her that sealed her inside a near-like coffin. She panted as she came around from the awful nightmare. It seemed even swallowed by the planet and being unconscious wouldn't help her get some sleep. She placed her hands in on the wall and tried pushing it off with all her might, "Let me out, whoever you are! I'm alive and you better RUN!" she slammed her hands on the wall repeatedly, "I am Avalon Reynolds and I'm not...I'm not scared!" she saw a distorted figure approaching her, "LET ME OUT!"

"Shh!" it said to her.

Avalon raised an eyebrow, "Did you just shush me? You're dead do you hear me!?" suddenly gas started to fill the coffin, "What are you doing!? Stop that!" she coughed, "Sop that..." she coughed some more then fell unconscious.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor was heading inside the basement with Lena behind him, a rather cautious engaged couple behind her, tentatively reaching for her arm in case the creature sat in the shadows attacked again. They all agreed that when Avalon returned, because she _would_ return, she would definitely kill them all if anything happened to Lena.

"Are you sure? By yourself?" Lena whispered to the Doctor, "She could hurt you."

"Very sure," he assured her.

"But the sting..."

"Venom gland takes at least 24 hours to recharge," he stared at the silent creature, "Am I right?" he called to it but received no answer, "I know what I'm doing. I'll be fine."

Amy and Rory reached out for Lena finally and pulled her back upstairs, leaving the Doctor to deal with the creature. He walked down the remainder of the steps as the creature finally inched out of the shadows with chainmail and a mask over its face.

"I'm the Doctor, I've come to talk," he raised his hands up in peace as he grew closer to it, "I'm going to remove your mask," he he squatted down and removed the creature's mask to reveal a bright green humanoid, scaly face, "You are beautiful. Remnant of a bygone age on planet Earth. And by the way, lovely mode of travel! Geothermal currents, projecting you up through a network of tunnels. Gorgeous! Mind if I sit?' he stood up and reached for a folding chair which he placed in front of the creature and promptly sat down, " Now. Your people have a friend of mine. I want her back. Why did you come to the surface? What do you want?" the creature remained silent, making the Doctor sigh. "Oh, I do hate a monologue. Give us a bit back. How many are you?"

"I'm the last of my species," it responded.

"Really? No. 'Last of the species', the Klempari Defence. As an interrogation defense, it's a bit old hat, I'm afraid."

"I'm the last of my species."

The Doctor grew serious, "No, you're really _not_. Because I'm the last of my species and I know how it sits in a heart. So don't insult me. Let's start again. Tell me your name."

Seeing no other alternative, the creature responded truthfully, "Alaya."

"How long has your tribe been sleeping under the Earth, Alaya? It's not difficult to work out. You're 300 million years out of your comfort zone. Question is, what woke you now?"

"We were attacked," she spat.

But the Doctor knew that wasn't exactly what happened, to the human's perspective anyways. "The drill."

"Our sensors detected a threat to our life support systems. The warrior class was activated to prevent the assault," and by the looks of her face, Alaya had already made her decision on how best to eradicate their problem. "We will wipe the vermin from the surface and reclaim our planet."

"Do we have to say vermin? They're really very nice."

" _Primitive_ _apes_."

"Extraordinary species," the Doctor countered. "You attack them, they'll fight back. But, there's a peace to be brokered here. I can help you with that."

"This land is ours. We lived here long before the apes."

"Doesn't give you automatic rights to it now, I'm afraid," the Doctor shook his head, "Humans won't give up the planet."

"So we destroy them."

"You underestimate them-"

"-you underestimate _us_."

"One tribe of homo reptilia against six billion humans, you've got your work cut out."

Alaya stood up, "We did not initiate combat. But we can still win."

"Tell me where my friend is," the Doctor stood up, "Give us back the people who were taken."

"No," she spat again.

He sighed, "I'm not going let you provoke a war, Alaya," he folded the chair up and returned it to its place, "There'll be no battle here today."

"The fire of war is already lit. A massacre is due," Alaya nearly cheered at the idea.

"Not while I'm here."

"I'll gladly die for my cause. What will you sacrifice for yours?"

The Doctor gave one last look then turned and left in silence.

~ 0 ~

"You're going to what!?" Rory exclaimed after hearing the Doctor's plan.

"I'm going to go down below the surface, to find the rest of the tribe," the Doctor repeated, "To talk to them."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Amy crossed her arms.

"You're going to negotiate with these aliens?" Ambrose nearly shouted.

"They're not aliens! They're Earth...liens!" the Doctor plopped down on a chair with an amused smile, "Once known as the Silurian race, or, some would argue, Eocenes, or Homo reptilia. Not monsters, not evil," he stood up, "Well, only as evil as you are. The previous owners of the planet, that's all. Look, from their point of view, you're the invaders. Your drill was threatening their settlement. Now, the creature in the crypt. Her name's Alaya. She's one of their warriors and she's my best bargaining chip. I need her alive. If she lives, so do Elliot and Mo and Avalon. While I'm gone, you six people, in this church, in this corner of planet Earth, you have to be the best of humanity."

"What if they come back?" Tony reminded, "Shouldn't we be examining this creature, dissecting it, finding its weak points?"

"I don't think dissection is going to keep my sister alive," Lena almost snapped again, "We hurt this creature and they hurt Avalon and I will not risk that, you got it?"

"Lena's right," the Doctor set a hand on her shoulder, hoping she'd calm down soon. Her emotions were rather radical and heavy today, certainly not the best way to keep her health in good state, "No dissecting! No examining! We return their hostage, they return ours. Nobody gets harmed. We can land this, together. If you are the best you can be. You are decent, brilliant people. Nobody dies today. Understand?"

Nasreen gave an applause but stopped when no one joined in, feeling a bit nervous afterwards.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor was heading towards the TARDIS when he heard two pairs of footsteps running closer to him. He looked back and saw Lena and Nasreen coming towards him, "No, sorry, no. What are you doing?"

"Coming with you, of course!" Lena panted for breath once they'd caught up, "Nasreen just came for her life's work."

"What is it?" Nasreen nodded to the TARDIS, "Some kind of transport pod?"

"Sort of," the Doctor answered her then looked at Lena, "You're not coming, baby sister. And neither are you Nasreen."

"He's right, you're not," Tony joined them, looking at Nasreen.

"I have spent all my life excavating the layers of this planet. And now you want me to stand back while you head down into it? I don't think so!" Nasreen shook her head.

"And I have to go," Lena declared, "My sister is down there. You can't expect me to wait up here. Amy and Rory didn't stop and neither will you," she pushed open the doors of the TARDIS and stepped inside.

The Doctor sighed and let the brunette go, though he did look at Nasreen with a doubtful face, "It'll be dangerous," he warned her.

"Oh, so's crossing the road," she shrugged.

"Oh, for goodness' sake, all right, then! Come on!" he went inside the box and saw Lena already at the console, "Baby sister, your twin is gonna kill me for this."

"I'll explain to her that I forced you to take me," Lena crossed her arms.

Nasreen stood at the doorway, the doors now closed behind her, and stared with wide eyes at the bigger room inside, "Oh my..." she breathed.

"Welcome aboard the TARDIS. Now don't touch anything!" the Doctor called, "Very precious."

"No way!" she walked over with awe, "But that's... this is..." she slapped him on the arm and laughed, "What does it do?"

"Everything! I'm hoping, if we're going down, that barricade won't interfere," the Doctor said just as the box started pitching drastically, making everyone cling to the console, "Did you touch something?!"

"No! Isn't this what it does?!"

"Doctor, what's going on!?" Lena cried.

"We've been hijacked! I can't stop it! They must've sensed the electro-magnetic field!" the Doctor looked at the monitor, "They're pulling the TARDIS down into the Earth!"

The box shook for a couple minutes before it gave a final lurch and sent everyone the floor, finally becoming still. Nasreen lifted her head up and looked around before snapping one of the Doctor's braces.

"Oi!"

"Where are we?" she demanded through a small laugh.

The Doctor got up and helped Lena then rushed to the doors with her. They all stepped out into a yellow-colored tunnel with roots and fungus covering the walls. The Doctor looked up from the way they fell and whistled in impression, "Looks like we fell through the bottom of their tunnel system. Don't suppose it was designed for handling something like this."

"How far down are we?" Nasreen gasped.

"A lot more than 21km."

"So how come we aren't burning alive?" Lena asked the question that made them all think.

"Don't know. Interesting, isn't it?"

"Scary," she corrected and crossed her arms.

"Oh, not really," he swung an arm around her shoulders and the three began walking ahead.

"Is it like this is everyday to you?" Nasreen asked them, curiously.

"Not every day. Every other day," the Doctor shrugged. Nasreen couldn't fathom that type of life; she imagined it was what Lena felt like judging by the facial expressions of the young woman.

In reality, Lena just really wanted her sister back already.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

And hellooooo I am back! I know it took me quite a while to update again and I just have to say it was a tough semester to get through! It was my final one so I had to make sure everything was done right so that I could graduate - which I did last week ;). So now that it's over, I'm getting more time to write again!

But uh-oh...Lena just spilled something big...that poor girl bottling this up...

 **For the Reviews:**

 **TheBlueRiver** : Little by little am I right? I do love my slow burns ;)

 **lautaro94** : Thanks! I've never had the opportunity to read them but a while ago my sister was given one as a present and I started to get curious myself. Plus when I learned that there was a Hispanic companion for one of 10's arcs I was so on board. I'll be sure to give those a look when I get back to editing the next story. I'm planning on incorporating some more comics for future chapters! :). And yeah, don't worry, they're not gonna suddenly declare their undying love for each other in the next chapter. It's just a slow burn like I said in the previous review response. They'll start to get closer.

 **Guest** : Thanks! I hope you liked this chapter too! :)

 **Guest** : Ahaha thanks! I hope this chapter was good too!

* * *

So the next chapter will cover the next episode of this 2-parter. Together it just formed a big chapter that I didn't like. Be prepared though, as we recall...death is coming up...


	10. Death At Tunnel's Way

The trio walked along the pathways in a cavern above molten magma and buildings, "This place is enormous and deserted. The majority of the race are probably still asleep," the Doctor took out his screwdriver, "We need to find Avalon, looking for heat signature anomalies."

"But, Doctor, how can all this be here? I mean, these plants..." Nasreen looked around, having to jog a little to catch up into the tunnels.

"Must be getting closer to the center of the city," he mumbled absently. His main concern at the time was to find their missing ginger and then worry about plants.

"Are you sure this is the best way to enter?" Lena nervously asked, "I mean, you sneak around for a reason."

"Front door approach! Definitely. Always the best way..."

And then an alarm blared, " _Hostile life force detected, area 17_."

"Apart from the back door approach, that's also good," the Doctor quickly turned them around, "Sometimes better."

 _"Hostile life force detected, area 17."_

A door slid open in front of Nasreen, allowing armed Silurian soldiers to walk through, "Doctor!" Nasreen called as more arrived.

The Doctor quickly raised his hands in surrender, "We're not hostile, we're not armed!" he pulled Nasreen's arms while Lena followed-in-suit and raised her hands, "We're here in peace!"

However, they were greeted with a gas from the weapons and dropped to the floor, unconscious.

~ 0 ~

"I do apologize, ma'am," the Silurian that contained Avalon and Mo returned to the angry ginger.

Avalon was still breathing heavily even though the 'decontamination' had been shut off, "I am...gonna...kill all of you!" she threatened, resting her head back. The echoes of the pain were slowly fading away, but she was sure this was going to leave some internal bleeding.

The Silurian, Malokeh, lowered his mask and flicked on a recording device, "Human females seem to be more aggressive."

" _Aggressive_?" Avalon blinked, "...I'll show you ' _agressive_ '! Let me out of this thing right now!"

"Leave her alone! You got me!" Mo shouted.

"Got you?" Avalon turned her head to look at him, "What do you mean?"

"I can't exactly perform dissection like this..." Malokeh tilted his head as he thought of what to do next.

"Dissection?" Avalon repeated in horror, her hand discreetly slipping in the device from the alien that had restrained her wrists, "Don't you even dare!"

"I don't mean to harm," Malokeh tried to explain when a voice over a comm. spoke through.

 _"Area 17 incursion, species diagnostic requested. Area 17 incursion, species diagnostic requested."_

"Yeah, you better leave," Avalon muttered when the Silurian had turned away and walked out of the room, "Aggressive..." she rolled her eyes.

She pressed the button on Malokeh's device and freed herself. She dusted herself off and moved onto Mo, "How did you get that?" he wondered.

"I've stolen things countless times," she rolled her eyes, "This was taking candy from a baby. Or a lizard man."

They headed out to the tunnels and walked with caution. They had no idea where they were and definitely had no plans of returning to the lab, especially after hearing dissection for Avalon. That was the last thing she needed to dream about.

"That creature, do you think it was an alien?" Mo brought her out of her thoughts, "Any more of them do you think? You think the Earth's been invaded?"

"I doubt it," she mumbled, "There'd be plenty more of us down here. We just need to get back to the surface," she stopped in front of a door and looked for some type of opening command, "I wonder where this leads."

"Maybe it's a way out of here," Mo offered, really hoping he was correct.

Avalon placed her hand on a panel beside the door and lighted the room on the other side. She looked up when Mo gasped, seemingly horrified, "What is it?" she asked.

Mo was looking at his son, Elliot, inside the room with attached wires on his face, "Oh, my God, no."

"What?" Avalon stood straight, irritated as it was with the circumstances and now with the man who couldn't seem to talk.

"It's my son, it's Elliot," Mo tried forcing the door open, "What've they done to him?" Avalon looked through the window at the boy while Mo moved to the panel, "No! He's in there! We have to get him out! Elliot! Elliot, it's Dad!"

 _"Access denied. Unauthorised genetic imprint."_

"Okay stop that!" she swatted Mo's hands away from the panel.

"That's my boy in there!"

"Look at the screens," she pointed, "They're monitoring him. Look, heartbeats, pulses," she forced him to see, "He's still alive, just...in a stasis state. But he's fine and he's alive."

"All right. We find weapons, get that creature from the lab and force it to release Elliot, yeah?"

"Definitely," she nodded, "I could use a new gun," she started walking down the tunnel with the man following behind.

~ 0 ~

In another lab, the Doctor, Lena and Nasreen were clamped down to the tables of dissection. While Nasreen seemed unconscious, the Doctor and Lena were in pain similar to Avalon, although the Doctor reached a higher level.

Across them, behind the machinery that scanned them, stood Malokeh and a female Silurian warrior, the warrior irritated as she spoke, "How can they have escaped? This proves all prisoners should remain under military guard."

"I'm sure you'd prefer to be in charge of everything and everyone, Restac. But we rank the same," Malokeh reminded, "Is there any word from Alaya?"

"No," Restac turned and watched the two captured writhe in pain, unperturbed by the screams.

"It's fine to show concern, you know. She's part of your gene-chain," Malokeh looked back at the controls, flicking a few, "I'm Decontaminating now."

"Decontamination! No, no, no!" the Doctor cried out in agony.

"Please...stop," Lena whimpered.

"It's all right. It won't harm you. I'm only neutralising all your ape bacteria," Malokeh explained.

"I'm not an ape! Look at the scans! Two hearts!" the Doctor tried to point but moving was out of the question with the clamps, "Totally different! Totally not ape! Remove all human germs, you remove half the things keeping me alive."

Malokeh checked the scans and saw the man was telling the truth. He shut down the machines for him but not Lena's, much to the pair's dismay.

"You gotta shut hers down too!" the Doctor frowned, breathing heavily from the pain, "She's not completely human like you think."

"Oh, like the other one," Malokeh remembered and quickly shut Lena's decontamination off.

"Other one?" Lena bowed her head, "...Avalon...she was here..." she closed her eyes to rest.

"No, complete the process," Restac ordered but Malokeh walked over to the unconscious Nasreen.

"Screw you," Lena spat, not quite as Avalon would've done.

"Lena," the Doctor gave her a surprised face. Lena lifted her head to show her irritated face, "Oh yes, definitely Avalon's relative..." he muttered and looked around, missing the amused smile from her, "Now then," he looked at Restac, "Not got any celery, have you? No, no, not really the climate, tomatoes, though, you'd do a roaring trade in those. I'm the Doctor, that's Lena, oh, and there's Nasreen, good!"

Nasreen awoke just as Malokeh stood in front of her, "Oh...a green man."

"Hello, who are you?" the Doctor questioned the warrior.

"Restac. Military commander."

"Oh, dear, really? There's always a military, isn't there?"

"Your weapon was attacking the oxygen pockets above our city," she spat.

"Oxygen pockets! Lovely!" and then the Doctor realized what that meant for the Silurians, "Oooh, but not so good with an impending drill! Now it makes sense!"

"Where is the rest of your invasion force?"

"Invasion force? Me, my sweet little sister Lena and lovely Nasreen? No! We came for the humans you took. And...to offer the safe return of Alaya," he eyed the Restac as she moved forwards, "Oh, wait, you and she, what is it, same genetic source? Of course you're worried, but don't be, she's safe."

"You claim to come in peace, but you hold one of us hostage," she motioned for the soldiers behind her to take position beside the captured.

"Well, you took my sister," Lena frowned, "Seems like we both want the same thing here. Sister for a sister."

"I don't negotiate with apes," Restac sneered and looked at Malokeh, "I'm going to send a clear message to those on the surface."

"What's that?" the Doctor asked.

"Your execution."

"Yes..." the Doctor made a face, not very pleased with the answer.

~ 0 ~

Avalon and Mo came across a chamber with glass-covered alcoves on either side, all completely silent. Avalon stepped to a sensor and looked around, "These chambers are all over the city," she put her hand over the sensor and lighted up the place.

Masked warriors stood inside each little room, shocking the two, "Uh! Turn it off, quick!" Mo exclaimed.

Avalon did so but peered inside, "Hm, they're not...moving," she moved her hand to the sensor again..

"No, Avalon, don't!" Mo exclaimed but the ginger went ahead and did it anyways.

She lighted up the place again along with the sliding open of the doors. Avalon stepped into one of the rooms and studied the frozen warrior.

"Avalon, what are you doing? Get out of there," Mo motioned for her to come back out.

"They won't move," she shrugged, unperturbed, and looked down at small rounded discs the warriors stood, "I wonder what those are..." she looked to the rest of the rooms and noticed all warriors stood over them, "They've got to do something..."

"Hey, look," Mo was staring up at a chute right above the warrior.

"Oh, now I get it, this is how they came up to the surface," Avalon moved around as she stared up, "And you know what? It's our way out of here."

"Even better, weapons," Mo took the gun the soldier held, "Come on, now we can fight back."

Avalon nodded and took one for herself then followed him out, closing the containers after them, "The door at the end," she nodded and they moved towards it.

"Are you sure?" Mo raised an eyebrow.

"Nope," she shrugged continued down the tunnel like nothing.

They came through another sliding doors and walked through it, stopping as they discovered a large chamber with more soldiers in suspended animation.

"Wow," Mo blinked.

"Yup," Avalon gripped her gun.

"We don't stand a chance."

"Who says we're fighting them all?" Avalon turned and walked away, "You get the leader and you kill," she muttered.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor, Lena and Nasreen were being escorted through the city by the soldiers with Restac and Malokeh behind them.

"These must be the only ones awake, the others must still be in hibernation," the Doctor was explaining to the two women with him.

"So, why did they go into hibernation in the first place?" Lena wondered.

"Their astronomers predicted a planet heading to Earth on a crash course. They a built life underground and put themselves to sleep for millennia in order to avert what they thought was the apocalypse. When in reality, it was the moon, coming into alignment with the Earth."

At the words, Restac stopped and looked at the Doctor, even Malokeh surprised, "How can you know that?"

"Long time ago, I met another tribe of homo reptilia, similar, but not identical."

"Others of our species have survived?" Restac asked, sounding a bit hopeful.

"The humans attacked them," the Doctor felt like he had just unnecessarily brought up a story, "They died, I'm sorry."

"A vermin race," Restac spat and continued walking.

They entered a courtroom where Restac went to the head of the room with Malokeh trailing after her, "You're not authorized to do this!"

"I'm authorized to protect the safety of our species while they sleep," Restac pointed out.

"Oh, lovely place, very gleaming," the Doctor complemented.

"Don't praise the room we're about to be killed in," Lena mumbled.

"This is our court and our place of execution," Restac explained.

"See?" Lena shot him a mock-irritated face.

"Let 'em go!" Avalon stalked into the room with her gun aimed at Restac, "No one executes my sister."

"Avalon Reynolds, there's a girl to rely on," the Doctor smiled.

"Oh shush, you brought my sister in here, why?"

"I forced him to," Lena said, keeping her promise.

"You're covered both ways so don't try anything clever, _lizard_ ," Avalon nodded to Mo who entered through the main door with his gun.

"Mo!" Nasreen exclaimed happily.

"Now let them go or I shoot," Avalon warned but Restac moved closer, "I'm warning you!" Restac moved to snatch the gun from her but Avalon quickly used her foot and pushed the lizard woman to the ground, "Don't touch me!"

Unfortunately, soldiers surprised Avalon by taking her from behind, the gun falling to the floor as Restac stood up and glared at the ginger.

"Don't you touch her!" Lena shouted angrily, "Leave my sister alone!"

"You," Restac pointed at Mo, the man giving up his gun at the failed plan.

"All right, Restac. You've made your point," Malokeh walked towards the woman.

"This is now a military tribunal. Go back to your laboratory, Malokeh," she snapped.

One of the soldiers jabbed Malokeh in the back and so the man looked at Avalon, "This isn't the way," he said before he left.

"Prepare them for execution," Restac gave the order.

The group were brought over to two pillars and were promptly tied up.

"Not your best rescue, sis," Lena tried to lighten the mood a little. After all, she'd finally gotten her sister back. That was something to be truly grateful though, even if they were in an execution room.

"Yeah well, I've never dealt with lizards," Avalon muttered, glaring at Restac.

"Homo reptilia... " the Doctor cut in with the correction, "They occupied the planet before humans. Now they want it back."

"After they've wiped out the human race," Nasreen added.

"Oh, great," Avalon rolled her eyes, "Just freaking lovely."

"Avalon, you don't seem so great..." Lena eyed her twin with concern.

"Well, I was swallowed by the planet, placed in a machine that felt like it was ripping my insides out - oh and I was nearly dissected. I'm not having a very good day."

Lena took that as a cue to be quiet. When Avalon entered her temper moods it was best to stay clear of the fire she spewed. She was just glad to have Avalon with them again, angry but here.

"Why are they waiting? What do you think they're going to do with us?" Nasreen asked, seeing the soldiers lined up in front of them like a fire squad.

Restac moved to the table and out came a projection in the middle of the room where Rory, Amy, Ambrose and Tony appeared, "Who is the ape leader?" Restac demanded. There was only a chatter from Ambrose but nothing very coherent, only leading to Restac asking again, "Who speaks for the apes?"

"I speak for the... humans," Rory stepped forwards, "Some of us, anyway."

"Do you understand who we are?" Restac questioned.

"Sort of. A bit. Not really."

"'We have ape hostages."

"Doctor! Lena! Avalon!" Rory cheered.

"Mo! 'Mo, are you OK?" Ambrose moved into the screen.

"I'm fine, love! I've found Elliot," Mo exclaimed, "I'm bringing him home!"

"Tony Mack!" Nasreen called.

"Having fun down there?" Tony asked.

"'Not to interrupt, but just a quick reminder to stay calm," the Doctor cut in, seeing the humans to enthralled with the little reunion they forgot their current situation.

"Show me Alaya," Restac ordered, "Show me and release her, immediately, unharmed, or we kill your friends…one by one."

"No!" Ambrose snapped.

"Ambrose..." Rory eyed the woman with weariness.

"'Steady now, everyone," the Doctor tried again.

"Ambrose, stop it!" Tony tried stopping his daughter.

"'Get off me, Dad!' We didn't start this!"

"Let us deal with this," Amy hissed at the woman, "Shush!"

"We're not doing what you say any more," Ambrose ignored her and stared directly at Restac, "Now, give me back my family!"

Everyone remained quiet as Restac took in the order, "Execute them."

"No! No, wait!" Rory and Amy shouted over the projection as the soldiers neared the two pillars with their weapons.

"She's not speaking for us!" Rory said.

"Start with her," Restac pointed at Avalon who simply rolled her eyes.

"Because I kicked you, there's a shocker," Avalon said as she was pushed to the center of the room with the soldiers behind her.

"There's no need for this..." the Doctor began, too much chaos to actually be heard very well.

"Stop this! Don't do it!" Lena cried, "Please!"

"Listen! Listen! Whatever you want... we'll do it!" Rory shouted.

"Aim," Restac instructed.

"Don't do this!" the Doctor yelled.

"Fire!"

Avalon shut her eyes and awaited the worst.

"Stop!" a man's voice cut through the chaos, everyone turning to see Malokeh entering with an elderly Silurian, Eldane, "You want to start a war, while the rest of us sleep, Restac?"

"The apes are attacking us!" Restac acccused.

"You're our protector, not our commander, Restac. Unchain them."

"I do not recognize your authority at this time, Eldane."

"Well, then, you must shoot me."

With frustration, Restac stalked towards Malokeh, "You woke him to undermine me."

"We're not monsters. And neither are they," Malokeh softly said.

"What is it about apes you love so much? Mmm?"

"While you slept, they've evolved. I've seen it for myself."

"We used to hunt apes for sport" Restac reminded, "When we came underground, they bred and polluted this planet."

"Shush now, Restac. Go and play soldiers. I'll let you know if I need you," Eldane instructed.

"You'll need me, then we'll see," Restac muttered and left the room.

"Can we be untied, please?" came Lena's soft voice, "My hands hurt."

Eldane nodded to the soldiers and so they gathered around the restrained humans/alien and freed them. As soon as she was freed, Lena rushed to Avalon and gave her usual hug-attack, "Avalon! Avalon! Avalon! You're back!"

Avalon smiled and hugged her back, "I don't leave my sister no matter what. No bloody planet is going to keep me away."

"So just to make sure I stay alive, then?" the Doctor cautiously stepped towards them.

Lena parted and looked at Avalon, the twins sharing a good moment before Avalon sighed, "Oh come here," she reached for the Doctor's arm and pulled him to join the hug.

"This is new," he remarked but nonetheless hugged back.

"Thank you for coming to get me," Avalon whispered, her tone indicating that for a moment, she doubted anyone would come for her.

"What-" the Doctor pulled away, mouth forming an 'o' of offence, "Did you think I _wouldn't_?"

"Let's not go down that road," Avalon put on a big smile and nodded to the awaiting Silurians and friends.

"I'm coming back to that," the Doctor warned then hurried to the table where the projection controls were, "First thing's first, we gotta get the others here."

"Why?" Avalon looked at Lena.

"We've got a hostage," Lena shrugged, surprising Avalon with her unperturbed attitude on it.

"Rory! Amy!" the Doctor greeted once the humans reappeared on the screen, "Hello!"

"Where's Ava?" was the first thing Rory said.

"Right here, Rory!" Avalon rushed to the Doctor's side, "Hello!"

"Thank God," Amy sighed in relief, "You just love to keep us on our toes, don't you?"

"It's sort of my thing," Avalon shrugged.

"No time to chat," the Doctor pushed Avalon and stood directly in front of the projection, missing the irritated look Avalon shot him, "Listen, you need to get down here... Go to the drill storeroom, there's a large patch of earth in the middle of the floor. The Silurians are going to send up transport discs to bring you back down using geothermal energy and gravity bubble-technology. It's how they travel and frankly it's pretty cool. Bring Alaya. We hand her over, we can land this after all. All going to work, promise. Got to dash! Hurry up!"

"What happens now?" Lena had to ask once the projection was cut off.

The Doctor just smiled, ideas ticking away in his head...

A short moment later found Eldane seated on one side of the large table with Nasreen and Lena on the other side. The Doctor, Avalon, Mo and Malokeh stood behind the trio.

"I'd say, you've got a fair bit to talk about," the Doctor began.

"How so?" Eldane asked.

"You both want the planet. You both have a genuine claim to it."

"Are you authorized to negotiate on behalf of humanity?"

"Me? No!" the Doctor scoffed, "But they are!" he gestured to Nasreen and Lena.

"What?" Nasreen looked at him like he'd lost it.

"Big brother you're forgetting I can't even mend a fuse!" Lena shook her head.

"Oh baby sister, you have no idea how much that can change," the Doctor sighed with a small smile on his face. Perhaps in another world where Donna Noble could see them, she could help Lena with that little intelligence doubt.

"Why am I even here?" Lena continued, moving to stand, "I'm not even fully human. I have no claim."

"You live on this planet, breathe their air so you do," the Doctor sat her back down.

"Well..." Lena sighed again and looked back at Avalon, "...I don't know anything about politics. Avalon should be here, not me."

"Mm, that's not a good idea," Avalon shook her head, "With my temper I may just blow it for the entire species," she missed the small nod the Doctor gave beside her, "Best not put me in that situation today. Besides," she moved up to Lena, "What better person to negotiate peace than my little twin sister who always kept the peace between our friends."

"Well..." Lena looked at Nasreen who nodded encouragingly at her, "...what about Mo? He's more human than us."

"I just want my son," was all the man had to say on the matter, pleading for them to finish here so they could get Elliot.

"Well, there we go, then," the Doctor clapped his hands, "Lena Reynolds and Nasreen Chaudhry, speaking for the planet! Humanity couldn't have better ambassadors. Come on, who has more fun than us?"

As he moved to the other end of the table, Avalon quickly jogged after him, "Is this supposed to happen?" she quietly asked, "I mean, I haven't exactly looked at history books of the future, but...is this what happens? The earth gets shared?"

Upon hearing the words, Nasreen stood up and walked over to them, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, Nasreen, sorry, probably worth mentioning at this stage, Lena, Avalon and I travel in time, a bit," the Doctor shrugged casually.

Instead of being surprised, Nasreen seemed more irritated, "Anything else?"

"There are fixed points through time, where things must always stay the way they are. This is not one of them. This is an opportunity, a temporal tipping point. Whatever happens today, will change future events, create its own timeline, its own reality. The future pivots around you. Here. Now. So do good. For humanity, and for Earth."

"Right, no pressure there, big brother!" Lena called from her spot.

"We can't share the planet. Nobody on the surface is going to go for this idea," Nasreen shook her head, "It is just too big a leap!"

"Come on. Be extraordinary," the Doctor exclaimed.

"Oh...you..." Nasreen playfully rolled her eyes and took her seat beside Lena.

"Okay then," Avalon shrugged, "Let's bring things to order: the first meeting of representatives of the human race and homo reptilian is now in session," she looked at the Doctor with a sly smile, 'I wish a had one of those judge mallets. I've always wanted to do that."

"I bet you have," he shook his head, "Is that what you want as a career?"

Avalon, a bit confused on the question, simply turned to Mo and Malokeh, "How about we go get that little boy, then?"

As they got going, the Doctor looked back at Lena, the brunette making a face at Avalon's discarding of his question, silent telling him that this was what she meant.

~ 0 ~

The remaining group stood outside the room Elliot was in, Malokeh working to the free the little boy.

"Elliot, there you are," the Doctor blinked.

"If you've harmed him in any way…" Mo began his threat to Malokeh.

"Of course not!" the Silurian cut him off, "I only store the young."

"How come?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, fairly curious.

"I took samples of the young, slowed their lifecycles to a millionth of their normal rate. So I could study how they grew, what they needed, how they lived on the surface."

"Wow, impressive," the ginger blinked and smiled.

"You've been down here, working by yourself, all alone?" the Doctor questioned.

"My family, through the millennia... For the last 300 years, just me," Malokeh looked to Mo, "I never meant to harm your child."

"Malohkeh, I rather love you," the Doctor fist-bumped the Silurian then looked at the readings beside the door, "It's safe. We can wake him."

Malokeh entered the room and removed the wires from Elliot, "Come," he motioned to Mo as he stepped out.

As Elliot slowly came around, Mo moved to stand in front of him, "Elliot? Ell, it's Dad."

"What...? Dad," Elliot blinked and hugged him.

"You're safe now," Mo assured.

"Where are we?"

"Well, I've got to be honest with you, son. We're in the center of the Earth... and there are lizard men."

Elliot peered around his father and saw the Doctor, Avalon and Malokeh standing behind, "Wow."

"Elliot, I'm sorry. I took my eye off you," the Doctor stepped inside the room with an apologetic fface.

"It's OK. I forgive you," Elliot shrugged and the two shook hands.

The trio headed back down the hallway, Malokeh staying behind at the panel of the door, "You go on, Doctor. I'll catch up."

The small group disbanded into pairs as they headed back for the courtroom, Avalon and the Doctor in front and Elliot and Mo just a few feet behind them.

"Avalon, about what you said earlier..." the Doctor chose his moment to talk while purposely walking slower. "Did you really think we wouldn't come for you?"

Avalon tried to play it off as casual as possible, but her flickering eyes made it impossible. "I just...I was kidding...you know. I make jokes. A lot."

"Well, even if it _was_ a joke...I didn't quite like its meaning," the Doctor gently bumped shoulders with her, eliciting a small smile from her. "Anywhere you are, _anywhere_ , I would come get you."

Avalon's face lit up afterwards (she would prefer to ignore the heat in her cheeks for the moment). "Thank you..."

The Doctor was aware of how his words may have come out, and despite his sudden need to clear his throat twice, he meant every word. He couldn't fathom any of his friends ever thinking they would just be left on their own. "I hope you'd do the same, you know..." he decided to throw in just to get some of that casualness back.

Avalon chuckled. "Well...I'd have to learn how to drive the TARDIS. So can I?"

Her widened smile at the prospect was not enough to convince the Doctor at the moment. "I don't quite...trust your skills at the moment..."

"Spoken from the man who crashed into my friend's backyard on a clear sky night," she had the right response, and quick, much to his dismay.

"I was having a bad day," he muttered and picked up his pace, though he still heard her snickering behind him.

~ 0 ~

Amy and Rory were the first of the group to rejoin the others in the tunnel, followed by Ambrose.

"Mum!" Elliot ran to hug her.

"Good to see you," Lena hugged her friends.

"Rory, what's wrong?" Avalon noticed the grim face Rory wore.

Before Rory could gather his words, Tony entered the room carrying a shrouded body of Alaya.

"What's he carrying?" Avalon blinked.

"No. Don't do this," the Doctor stepped forwards, "Tell me you didn't do this."

Tony set Alaya's body on the floor and the Doctor squatted down to pull the cloth

away from Alaya's face. He glared up at Tony as he stood up, "What did you do?"

"It was me. I did it," Ambrose confessed.

"Mum?" Elliot looked up at his mother.

"I just wanted you back."

The Doctor turned and walked up to Eldane, "I'm sorry. I didn't know. You have to believe me, they're better than this."

"This is our planet!" Ambrose exclaimed.

"We had a chance here," the Doctor snapped at her.

"Leave us alone."

The Doctor strode up to her, more than angry, "In future, when you talk about this, you tell people there was a chance but you were so much less than the best of humanity."

Arms soldiers poured into the room with Restac in front, "My sister," she saw the body and rushed forwards, uncovering the cloth from Alaya's face and letting out a terrible wail before placing the shroud back, "And you want us to trust these apes, Doctor?"

"One woman," the Doctor pointed, "One woman. She was scared for her family. She's not typical."

"I think she is," Restac stood and faced Ambrose.

"One person let us down. But there's a whole race of dazzling, peaceful human beings up there," the Doctor turned to Eldane in plead, "You were building something, here, come on...an alliance could work."

"It's too late for that, Doctor," Ambrose cut in.

"Why?"

"Our drill is set to start burrowing again in..." Ambrose checked her stopwatch, "15 minutes."

"What?" Nasreen's eyes widened.

"What choice did I have? They had Elliot," Tony shook his head.

"Don't do this, don't call their bluff," the Doctor insisted with Eldane.

"Let us go back," Ambrose spoke to the Silurians, "And you promise to never come to the surface ever again. We'll walk away, leave you alone."

"Execute her!" Rescue ordered.

"No!" the Doctor pulled Ambrose down as the soldiers fired, "Everybody, back to the lab! Run!"

All the group, along with Eldane, ran out of the room as they dodged the shots of the soldiers.

"Execute all the apes!" Restac shouted.

The Doctor used his screwdriver on the soldier's guns and made them explode, "This is a deadly weapon - stay back," one of the soldiers stepped up and lashed with its tongue, backing the Doctor out of the way and into a run.

~ 0 ~

"Take everyone to the lab!" the Doctor instructed to Rory, "I'll cover you! Go! Go!" he ushered the others and stood to face the oncoming Silurians, "Ah-ah! Stop right there! Or I'll use my very deadly weapon again. One warning, that's all you get. If there can be no deal, you go back into hibernation. All of you. Now. This ends here."

"No. It only ends with our victory," Restac corrected.

"Like I said... one warning," he disabled the two more guns and ran off.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor used the sonic to shut the doors of the lab then turned to face the group, "Elliot, you and your dad keep your eyes on that screen. Let me know if we get company. Amy," he tossed her the stopwatch, "Keep reminding me how much time I haven't got."

Mo and Elliot moved to the screen that showed the tunnel outside.

"OK, 12 minutes till drill impact," Amy announced.

"Tony Mack, sweaty forehead, dilated pupils, what're you hiding?" the Doctor moved over to the sitting man.

Tony opened his shirt to show a good part of his neck and chest, around the veins, were a bright green.

"Tony! What happened?!" Nasreen gasped.

The Doctor used his screwdriver on the infected area.

"Alaya's sting. She said there's no cure," Tony sighed, "I'm dying, aren't I?"

The Doctor headed to the control panel and checked the readings, "You're not dying, you're mutating. How can I stop it? Decontamination program! Might work - don't know. Eldane, can you run the program on Tony?"

"Doctor, shedload of those creatures coming our way! We're surrounded in here!" Mo called.

Eldane and Lena helped Tony to the decontamination chamber as the Doctor

spoke, "So, question is, how we do stop the drill, given we can't get there in time? Plus also, how do we get out, given that we're surrounded? Nasreen, how d'you feel about an energy pulse, channelled up through the tunnels to the base of the drill?"

"To blow up my life's work?"

"Yes. Sorry. No nice way of putting that."

"Right, well, you're going to have to do it before the drill hits the city, in..."

"11 minutes, 40 seconds..." Amy finished.

"Yes! Squeaky bum time!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"Yes, but the explosion is going to cave in all the surrounding tunnels so we have to be on the surface by then."

"I think we're all forgetting the fact we're surrounded," Avalon cut in.

"I can help with that... Toxic Fumigation - an emergency failsafe meant to protect my species from infection," Eldane rejoined them with Lena, "A warning signal to occupy cryo-chambers. After that, citywide fumigation, by toxic gas. Then the city shuts down."

"You could end up killing your own people," Rory blinked.

"Only those foolish enough to follow Restac."

"Eldane, are you sure about this?" the Doctor asked.

"My priority is my race's survival. The Earth isn't ready for us to return yet."

"But it should be," Lena sighed.

"10 minutes, Doctor," Amy called.

"Lena's right, it should be," the Doctor nodded, "So here's the deal. Everybody listening? Eldane, you activate shutdown... I'll amend the system, set your alarm for 1,000 years' time," Eldane moved over to the controls, "1,000 years, to sort the planet out. To be ready. Pass it on. As legend, or prophesy, or religion, but somehow, make it known. This planet is to be shared."

"Yeah. I get you," Elliot smiled and nodded.''

"Nine minutes, seven seconds."

"Yes, fluid controls, my favourite!" the Doctor moved beside Eldane, "Energy pulse timed, primed and set. Before we go, energy barricade, need to cancel it out - quickly," he used the sonic on the controls, making the barricade come down.

"Fumigation pre-launching," Eldane announced.

"There's not much time for us to get from here to the surface, Doctor!" Rory reminded.

"Ah-ha, super-squeaky bum time! Get ready to run for your lives," he took out Lena's inhaler and tossed it over, "Sorry baby sister."

She caught it and shrugged, "One more time, eh?"

"What do you mean?" Avalon caught the words with a frown.

"But the decontamination program on your friend hasn't started yet," Eldane cut in, thankfully.

"Well, go. All of you! Go," Tony shooed the group off.

"No, we're not leaving you here!" Ambrose shook her head.

"Granddad!" Elliot ran over and hugged him.

"Eight minutes, 10 seconds," Amy said.

"Now you look after your mum. You mustn't blame her," Tony looked down at Elliot, "She only did what she thought was right."

"I'm not going to see you again, am I?"

"I'll be here," Tony touched Elliot's heart and smiled, "Always. I love you, boy," he gave Elliot one last hug then looked at Ambrose, "You be sure he gets home safe!"

Elliot went to Mo while Ambrose stayed with her father, "This is my fault," her eyes watered.

"No, I can't go back up there. I'd be a freak show. The technology down here's my only hope," Tony hugged her.

"I love you, Dad."

"Go. Go. Come on. Go on!"

"Toxic fumigation initiated.

"They're going! We're clear!" Rory called from the screens.

"OK. Everyone follow Nasreen. Look for a blue box. Get ready to run," the Doctor used the sonic on the door, making it slide open for the others to run through, "Eldane, I'm sorry."

"I thought for a moment, our race, and the humans..."

"Yeah. Me too."

"Doctor! We've got less than six minutes," Amy informed.

"Go! Go! I'm right behind you!" he shooed them off then looked over to Nasreen who hadn't moved, "Let's go."

"I'm not coming either," she shrugged casually.

"What?"

"We're going to hibernate with them, me and Tony."

"Doctor, you must go!" Eldane exclaimed.

Tony looked at Nasreen, "II can be decontaminated when we're woken. All the time in the world."

"But... Nasreen... you..." the Doctor couldn't find the right words to speak.

Nasreen smiled and walked up to him, " No. This is perfect. I don't want to go. I've got what I was digging for. I can't leave when I've only just found it."

"Doctor!" Amy poked her head back inside the room.

"Thank you, Doctor," Nasreen nodded.

"The pleasure was all mine," the Doctor gave her a hug then took Amy by the hand and rushed for the door.

"Come and look for us," Nasreen waved goodbye.

~ 0 ~

"No questions, just get in! And yes, I know it's big!" the Doctor stopped in front of the TARDIS and unlocked the doors, ushering the others inside, "Ambrose, sickbay up the stairs, left, then left again... get yourself fixed up. Come on! Five minutes and counting..."

A white light emerged behind the Doctor just as the others joined him.

"Is that...?" Avalon blinked.

"...but it can't be," Lena shook her head.

The same crack from Amy's bedroom wall was splattered on the tunnel wall.

"Not here. Not now. It's getting wider," the Doctor stared with a terrible feeling.

"The crack on my bedroom wall," Amy backed away.

The Doctor walked up to the wall and squatted down, "And the Byzantium. All through the universe - rips in the continuum. Some sort of space-time cataclysm. An explosion, maybe. Big enough to put cracks in the universe. But what?"

"Four minutes...we have to go!" Amy exclaimed.

"The Angels laughed, when I didn't know. Prisoner Zero knew, everybody knows, except me!"

"This is no time to be _indignant_ ," Avalon snapped, "We have to go, didn't you hear?"

"Big brother, just...just leave it alone," Lena looked at the crack with weariness.

"But where there's an explosion," he pulled out a red hankie from his jacket, "There's shrapnel."

"Doctor, you can't put your hand in there!" Rory exclaimed.

"Why not?" he reached into the crack holding the hankie and cried in pain as the light grew brighter, "I've got something!"

"What is it?" Avalon stepped forwards.

The fell back on the ground, clutching the mysterious item wrapped in the hankie, it sizzling with heat and energy.

"Well then open it," Avalon reached for it.

"Doctor!" Lena gasped as she saw Restac crawling into the tunnel.

"She was there, when the gas started... She must've been poisoned," Amy realized.

"You!" Restac glared at them all.

"OK, get in the TARDIS, all of you," the Doctor jumped to his feet and reached into his jacket's pocket.

"You did this," Restac pulled her arm forwards to reveal a gun.

"Doctor!" Rory pushed the alien out of the way and took the shot.

"Rory!" Amy and Avalon cried as he fell to the ground in pain.

"Avalon..." Lena's heart raced to see the Silurian woman's head falling yet her gun still managing to stay aimed, and...

"Lena, not now-"

"No!" Lena pushed Avalon to the ground as a second aimed was shot.

"NOO!" Avalon screamed as her twin landed beside her, writhing in pain as Rory was. She jumped to her feet and was about to retaliate when she saw Restac finally still, completely dead, "No, no, no, no, no!" she turned to the others with teary eyes.

"Rory, can you hear me?" the Doctor looked between him and Lena, the sonic on both of them, "Baby sister?"

"I don't understand..." Rory blinked rapidly.

"Shh-shh. Don't talk," Amy stroked his face, "Doctor, is he OK? We have to get him into the TARDIS!"

"Lena, Lena, c'mon stay with me," Avalon swallowed, cradling her sister's head, "P-p-please, don't do this."

"Finally, it's right," Lena weakly smiled, "Just...live your life," she closed her eyes, her head lulling.

"N-n-n-n-nno! No! No!" Avalon burst into sobs, "No! Lena, don't!" The Doctor moved to the twins and checked for Lena's vitals, his own eyes tearing up. "Don't...don't say it," Avalon warned, "Don't you dare...cos she's not, she's _not_!"

"Someone help!" Amy called, unaware of the misfortune behind her.

"But we were on the hill," Rory was reminiscing, "I can't die here."

"Oh, don't say that," Amy tried to smile.

"You're so beautiful... I'm sorry," he then closed his eyes and died next.

"Doctor, help him," Amy looked back and saw the other ginger with her twin, "Oh no...help us!" she nearly snapped at the alien, "...please."

"Doctor, what's...?" Avalon gasped, having to let go of Lena as the crack's tendrils of light reaching for them.

"Get away from there!" he jumped to his feet and pulled her away, "Amy, move away from the light," he called, not letting go of Avalon's arm should she try anything.

"No, no," Amy shook her head, refusing such a thing, unaware of the tendrils of lights reaching Rory's feet.

"If the light touches you you'll be wiped from history," the Doctor explained, "Amy, move away now."

"No! I am not leaving him! We have to help him! We have to help Lena," she looked back at the brunette twin only to see half her body already consumed by the light.

"Lena..." Avalon shuddered a breath, almost falling forwards with her tears. She wanted to take Lena back into her arms and hug her but she remembered the Doctor's words about the light, she knew what would happen.

It was just...too late.

Her sister was _gone_.

"The light's already around them, we can't help," the Doctor insisted, frantic on how to get both women inside the box before the light inevitably reached all of them.

"We're not leaving them!" Amy cried.

"We have to," Avalon whispered, looking at the Doctor with a nod, letting him know she wouldn't try and run for Lena anymore.

"Don't be stupid, Avalon!" Amy snapped.

The Doctor took the chance and let Avalon go so he could snatch Amy back, "I'm sorry!"

"Get off me!" Amy tried prying off the man as he lifted her up and dragged her towards the TARDIS, "Avalon, don't let him do this!"

Avalon took a last look at her sister, her sweet little twin sister that was more than halfway consumed by the light. She covered her mouth as she released new tears, "I'm so sorry," she looked at Rory for a moment as well before hurrying inside the box, right before the Doctor literally pushed Amy inside the box.

"No!" Amy rushed back to the doors but the Doctor used the sonic and locked it, "No! No!" Amy pounded on the floor, "Let me out, please let me out... I need to get Rory."

Avalon had turned to the monitor and gasped as she saw the light finally take over Lena completely. She dropped to her knees and shook her head, "There has to be...there has to be _something_ we can do!" she sobbed, "If that light...I'm not...we're not..."

But she heard the dematerialization start behind her, cutting off any of her hope.

"That light, if their bodies absorbed we'll forget them," Amy ran to the Doctor at the console, "They'll never have existed. You can't let that happen. Take this thing _back_!" but the Doctor did not listen, he simply turned to her with the most sincerest apology, "No, no..." Amy shook her head, her tears streaming down her face, "No! No! Doctor, we can't just leave them there! Avalon!"

Avalon had her back to them, crying to herself, still on her knees. She didn't anyone's hugs, anyone's condolences. She didn't need them...she'd gone through this with her mother, she...she didn't need anyone...she didn't...

The Doctor took Amy by the hand and practically dragged her to Avalon, needing both to listen to them, "Keep them in your minds," he forcefully turned Avalon to them, "Don't forget them. If you forget them, you'll lose them forever."

"On the Byzantium, I still remembered the Clerics because I am a time traveler, now you said," Amy reminded.

"They weren't part of your world. This is different...this is your own history changing."

"Can't we...can't we retain it?" Avalon looked up, refusing to get off the floor, she didn't think her legs could carry her with the trembling she was giving, "Please? I don't want to lose her like I did with my mum..." she shook her head and screwed her eyes shut, practically reliving the moments.

"Doctor, please, make it better!" Amy pleaded.

"It's going to be hard, but you can do it, both of you," he assured and managed Avalon to stand, though the ginger half-leaned on him for support, "Tell me all about them, eh? Rory? Lena? Fantastic Rory, sweet Lena, gorgeous Rory, stunning Lena. Just listen to me, do exactly as I say. Amy, Ava? Remember? He calls you Ava," he looked at Avalon with a hopeful look, "And he calls you beautiful," he said to Amy, "Just concentrate. You can do this."

"I can't," Amy shook her head.

"You can. You can do it. I can't help you unless you do. Come on. We can still save their memories. Come on. Please. Don't let anything distract you. Remember Rory, Lena. Keep remembering, they're only alive in your memories. You have to keep hold of them. Don't let anything distract you. Rory and Lena still live in your minds."

Suddenly, the TARDIS jarred slightly and sent the trio to the floor, Rory's engagement ring falling to the floor in front of the Doctor. Amy sat up with blinking eyes, a bright smile on her face, "What were you saying?" she looked at the Doctor, clueless.

He stared at her with an emotionless face then glanced at Avalon who lifted her head up rather slowly, her eyes darting from one place to another...as if...trying to remember something...

He'd failed.

"Something's wrong," Avalon whispered and looked around as she stood up.

"I have seen some things today, but this is beyond mad," Mo said as he and Elliot walked out from the corridors, completely unaware of what happened.

~ 0 ~

After returning Ambrose and her family, the leftover trio made their way back to the TARDIS. Amy stopped and looked out, chuckling, "Oh! Hey! Look! There I am again! Hello, me!" she waved at her future self, now alone, but tilted her head for a moment.

"Are you okay?" the Doctor noticed the movement, a bit hopeful.

"I thought I saw someone else there for a second," Amy shrugged and turned for the doors, "I need a holiday. Didn't we talk about Rio?"

"I hate beaches," Avalon muttered.

"Oh don't be so grumpy," Amy made a joking face that managed to get a faint smile.

As Amy went inside the TARDIS, the Doctor studied intently the remaining ginger, "You okay?"

Avalon was staring out to where Amy's future self had been with a rather curious look, if not confused look, "It's just...I feel...weird. Something's just..." she shook her head and sighed, "...never mind," she gave another faint smile and went inside.

The Doctor stayed back and looked back to the hill, Rory and Lena were just...gone. His sweet baby sister never existed. She'd said she'd wanted to leave the traveling and in some way she did, just not in the way any of them wanted. Lena had finally done something she was proud of, stopped her sister from taking yet another bullet and saved her life. He was...proud of her, but he was not content with the results. The only thing he could do now was simply look after her twin, show her the world like he'd promised to Lena. That's how he'd keep her memory alive for Avalon and her family, honoring Lena's last request.

Finally, the Doctor focused on the item he'd taken from the crack and unwrapped it. He tilted his head as he saw some very familiar words on it. He held it up to the TARDIS sign...and it was a perfect match.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Yeeeah...I did that...sorry . Well, it's the adventures of Avalon, Amy and the Doctor for now...

 **For the review:**

 **TheBlueRiver:** Yeeeeah, we're getting there lmao. It's a process that'll last a while ;)


	11. Once Upon A Dream

Avalon awoke with a gasp from her bed, her hands clutching her blanket as she shook terribly. Her chest heaved up and down with how heavy she breathed, her eyes darting from one place to another she took in her surroundings. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, silently reminding herself she had another nightmare and was in her bedroom, simply trying to sleep.

 _None of it was real_ , she recited over and over.

She threw the covers off and got out of bed, pulling her robe on and closing it before putting her slippers and heading out of the room. As she closed the doors, the TARDIS gave a gentle hum as if to coax the woman back to sleep.

"I'm fine," she whispered and closed her eyes to take another breath, "Just...fine," she swallowed and hugged herself as she headed for the kitchen.

She entered and immediately walked for the pantry, needing something to drink. She opened it up and ran her hands through anything she could find when she came across a strawberry powder. She froze and took it off, studying it intently as if there was something more to it than being just a simple powder for a hot drink. She turned and turned the pouch and frowned when she couldn't come up with anything.

"Hm, I'm losing my damn mind," she murmured and set the pouch down on the counter. She ran a hand through her hair, or at least tried anyways as her fingers got stuck on some terrible curls.

The TARDIS gave another round of hums, although louder ones that made Avalon stiffen. If the TARDIS was giving loud hums, when she and Amy were supposed to be 'sleeping', then that would mean a certain alien would hear the hums because apparently he didn't need a lot of sleep like humans did...and he'd start looking around...and the box would give him the correct room...

"Don't you dare," she whisper-threatened the box with a finger, "Don't you dare, I'm fine. Just...had a bad dream, that's all," she turned for a cabinet and started searching for a pot, all the meanwhile the hums continued in the background. She rolled her eyes and went to the fridge, taking out a carton of milk, turning just in time to see the Doctor entering with a mildly confused face, "And she dared," Avalon sighed and moved to the counter.

"Must I even ask about the hums?" he moved towards her.

"Just a midnight snack," Avalon poured milk into the pot, "She's being over dramatic."

The TARDIS seemed to huff as she gave another set of hums, as if telling the ginger girl that it was far more than just one bad dream she'd had so far.

"I think that was the disagreeing hum," the Doctor smiled in amusement.

Avalon quietly scoffed as she moved to the stove, "You would know that," she mumbled, "It's the only one you hear from her, after all."

"Ava, let's talk," he followed her but bumped into her when she had so suddenly spun around.

"What did you call me?" she blinked, feeling so...weird by the shortening of her name, "Ava? Why did you call me that?" she whispered to the side, turning and thinking intently on it.

The Doctor could only stare as the ginger thought, a part of him endlessly wishing she could finally break through and remember, but then the other half of him wishing she didn't because once she did remember who she lost...the pain would come with it. That's how he thought every time he dropped these subtle hints to Avalon. Unlike Amy, the Doctor noticed that Avalon seemed to somehow be on the verge of remembering the deaths of her twin and friend. He did not understand how nor why but he took advantage of that and had taken to dropping several hints about Lena and Rory. There were times when Avalon would seem distant from him and Amy, as if she was trying to remember something important. The Doctor figured it was Avalon's subconscious trying to remind her of her pain, her missing twin, her sole purpose of living. Lena had been an awful big part of Avalon's life, if not her _entire_ life and now that Lena was gone Avalon seemed lost. The Doctor couldn't help and think of Donna and her lost memories. According to her grandfather, Wilf, Donna also seemed to try and remember her time travels but always resorted to nothing.

Avalon gave up on her thoughts of this new nickname the Doctor (from her perspective) dropped on her so suddenly and returned to her drink, "Sorry," she murmured, "I must be delirious with this insomnia."

"You know I can help with that, right?" the Doctor sadly moved on as well, awaiting his next opportunity to give another hint.

"Believe me, I've tried everything. I've been like this for years, now," Avalon grabbed the powder and poured it into her pot along with other small ingredients, "There's no help for me.'

"You can...give me a chance?" the Doctor casually suggested, "I don't bite you know."

"I do," she informed with a small smirk.

"Oh I know, you bit an entire group of girls for teasing you about your hair."

Avalon gave him a suspicious look, "How did you know that?"

"Oh, um...Amy told me about that," the Doctor shrugged, he really did have to measure just how much he gave of Lena's talks to the ginger.

"Mm, well, my answer still stands: I'm good," Avalon shrugged and peered into the pot.

"But you really do need to sleep," the Doctor kept insisting, "Can't I just help...?"

"I'm fine, thank you very much," she took the pot off and moved away.

The Doctor picked up on the slight annoyed tone the ginger displayed and simply sighed. He'd been trying, he'd been really trying, to get to know Avalon ever since Lena's death, almost like trying to honor Lena's request, but...Avalon seemed to shut him out. Each time he asked a question about _her_ she discarded it and moved onto something else. He'd be a little more upset about it, perhaps offended, if Amy hadn't told him that Avalon did that with nearly everyone she met. The Doctor was a bit ashamed to say that getting to know Avalon had turned into a slight challenge, a challenge he was all for.

"Avalon, c'mon," the Doctor followed her around, "I can do something for you. I can..."

"I'm fine, Doctor," Avalon assured.

"I can make a little knock-out serum?"

"No."

"I can force you to go unconscious for a while?"

"I said n-"

"Oh! Or, since you can't sleep for a reason, I can go into your mind and see what exactly is causing it. It's simple and 100% workable."

"What are you even talking about?" Avalon looked up after pouring her drink in a mug, a small amused smile on her face because of the Doctor's trailing after her like a puppy.

"It's simple, look," he pushed the mug away from them and stepped closer.

"What are you doing?" Avalon narrowed her eyes with suspicion when he placed his fingers on her temples.

"I'm just going to go through your mind and find the one thought that's keeping you from sleeping. Just close your eyes."

But Avalon knew what that would mean and what he would see. She pushed his hands away and quickly stepped back, "No, don't do that! I'm fine," she swallowed.

"I'm just trying to help," he sighed.

"I don't need it, thank you," she reached for her mug and took a seat at the table.

"I think you do," he plopped himself down beside her, not giving up.

"Why are you insisting so much on this?" she raised an eyebrow, beginning to get irritated that he couldn't just leave it alone. She didn't want anyone to see what she dreamed about, no one needed to know.

"Why do you keep pushing me away? I'm just trying to help!"

"Contrary to my fairytale beliefs, I do _not_ need saving, Doctor. Stop it."

The Doctor remained silent for a minute, wondering just what he needed to make this ginger talk because oh she _would_ be talking one way or another. He just needed that one thing that would spark her trust in him. Because that's how he felt at the moment, honestly. He usually had all his companions be willing to talk to him but Avalon was abnormally reserved. It felt like she was scared and he didn't want her to feel any reason to be scared to talk about her things. So, what could be the thing he needed for her to trust him?

Suddenly, he stood up and promptly left the room, leaving a very confused Avalon in her seat. She rolled her eyes and silently drank from her mug. A couple minutes later, the Doctor returned holding something behind his back. He walked straight up to the ginger and beside the table, rocking on his feet with a big grin.

Avalon could see he was not going to leave her alone so maybe if she just went along with whatever he now had he would leave sooner. "What do you want now?" The Doctor pulled from his back a certain book and placed it on the table in front of her. Avalon gazed down, raising both her eyebrows when she saw the familiar book. "What are you doing with my favorite book? You know, the rule about my journal stands with the rest of my fairy tale books: don't touch them."

"How would you like to take a trip?"

"Right now?" she asked, looking around with uneasiness, "But...Amy's asleep. Are you really going to wake her-"

"N-n-n-no, this is just us," the Doctor cut her off before she got other ideas. Though that seemed to make her more uneasy.

"Just us? Why?"

"Well, clearly you won't be sleeping so why not go somewhere nice to pass the time?"

She gave him another suspicious. "Why are you being so nice to us?"

"I can't be nice?" he challenged.

"No, but this is _extra_ nice. You've been taking Amy and I to these big places and-"

"That are completely wonderful, beautiful, amazing, incredible," the Doctor continued to rock on his feet as he considered more words to describe his adventures.

Avalon shook her head when he started smirking proudly, "Way to be modest. But I mean it. You've been... _weird_."

"This coming from the woman who never utters a word about herself," he crossed his arms.

She only spared him a small look before changing the topic, "Alright, so this place...where'd you have in mind?"

"I was thinking fairy tale related," he watched her pick up the book he'd brought in, "I'm just short on ideas where. Any suggestions?"

She calmly placed the book down and took a drink from her mug. She looked around as she thought, or played the part of 'thinking'. There had been one place she had wanted to go, one person she truly wanted to meet ever since she stepped aboard on the TARDIS. She had just never wanted to ask, despite the Doctor having asked both her and Amy plenty of times for any suggestions on their trips. She'd felt a bit embarrassed of asking for that one person, already hearing Amy's comments on it. Perhaps this trip without her was actually a good idea.

"Avalon?" the Doctor called, bringing her out of her thoughts, "Any ideas?"

She bit her lip and picked up the book again, "Can we...can we meet Mary Costa?"

The Doctor had plenty trouble keeping his excitement away from his face. If he showed too much, Avalon would sure think it was smugness and that was enough to push her away even further. "Why her?"

"You know why," she pushed the book down and looked around, her face warming up.

"Oh? You mean because she provided the voice of your favorite fairy tale-turned movie? Hm, maybe I do," the Doctor kept the big smile on his face from turning into a laugh.

"It's not funny," she drank from her mug in an attempt to block the view of her red face.

"Any specific time you'd like to see her in, then?"

She set her mug down and shook her head, "Nope, just as long as I get to meet her. Would you really bring me there?"

He nodded, "Mhm, c'mon then," he helped her up from her chair, "Though you may want to change, first."

"I'm meeting Mary Costa," she chuckled nervously, "Oh my god..." she handed him her mug then suddenly stopped and looked at the remaining liquid inside.

"Is something wrong?" the Doctor eyed her, noticing the frown spreading on her face.

"It's just...I don't even like pink hot chocolate," Avalon mumbled and looked up at him, "I prefer the regular kind...why would I make this if I know I don't like it?"

The Doctor swallowed hard and kept his mouth shut. He'd noticed Avalon had made the pink drink often times for Lena, the brunette woman claiming it was her favorite drink despite any type of season it may be. Avalon had always remarked it wasn't better than the regular hot chocolate. It seemed like Avalon had remembered one more thing about Lena...without actually remembering Lena.

"You're just that sleepy," the Doctor said in the end and took the mug from her, "You sure you don't want me to just knock you out?"

"No thanks, fairy tale man," she shook her head, "I am meeting Mary Costa," she gasped to herself, "Oh my god...what am I going to wear?"

"I suppose I'll wait in the console room?" the Doctor called but the ginger merely gave a wave of a hand as she walked out, still talking to herself on what she'd wear. He laughed halfheartedly and picked up her fairy-tale book, leaving her mug in the sink and walking out of the room. As he walked out, he heard a small snippet of the ginger actually miming the theme song of that movie and thought of the _perfect_ period to go into for her.

~ 0 ~

Avalon entered the console room wearing a light pink dress that reached to her knees. It had sweetheart-illusion neckline with a cinched waist and a wide-flared skirt like the 50's style; the entire dress covered in a sheer white flock fabric with flowered designs. She wore pink mary-janes with straps going around her ankles in a spiral, pink earrings and a pink headband keeping her ginger locks behind her shoulders.

"Are we here yet?" she approached the console, rather nervously, something she barely felt in this box despite the usual way their adventures went.

"Oh yes!" the Doctor exclaimed, gesturing to the doors, "I had the perfect year thought out. Mind you, I didn't know you sang."

The fact was she taken by surprise was clear for by her wide-eyed face. "What?"

"You sing," the Doctor mused, coming around the console to meet her, "And very well too." Avalon cleared her throat, wanting to quickly move onto a new topic before she got red to match her hair. "Nice dress," the Doctor remarked after their awkward silence. "I'm assuming it was inspired for the woman herself?"

With that comment, Avalon found herself again. "Don't criticize my clothes when you're wearing _that_ ," she smirked and pointed at his current clothes, "Newsflash: bow-ties are _not_ cool," she walked around him towards the doors.

"I will take this ship away from this spot if you don't take that back!" he warned, staying in place by the console just to show her he was serious.

However, Avalon did not seemed to care as she reached the doors, "I'm not taking it back so you might as well take the ship back."

The Doctor groaned. "Would it kill you to be a little nice?"

"Would it kill you to be a little less childish?"

"What happened to being more respectful?"

"I'm not saying anything that isn't true. Now quit being a baby and let's go. You sure Amy is going to be fine in here alone?"

"Yes, the TARDIS is going to keep her safe and sound," the Doctor promised just as he came over and opened the door, "After you princess," his teasing face was back on.

"Thank you baby face," she smirked and stepped out.

The Doctor was an inch close to shutting the door and leaving the red outside. She had a response for _everything_ didn't she? He took a breath and looked up, "Oh baby sister this is for you," he shook his head and stepped out.

Avalon was less than pleased with the surroundings, her arms crossed and a big frown on her face, "Well, I think this will be commemorable, alright."

"Oh don't be so impatient," the Doctor sighed and headed for a stair case leading up to a door.

"We're in a basement!"

The Doctor turned back and headed down the stairs again, "Do you think I'd purposely make you dress up and promise somewhere nice for a trip only to take you to a dirty basement?"

"...no."

"Then come on," he held his hand for her, "Let me take you just where you want to be."

"You should know that I don't trust just anyone," she warned, never knowing the weight her words actually carried for him.

"Then what are you waiting for?" he wiggled his fingers and edged her on, "Let the Fairytale man take you away."

"And if he tricks me, I'll slap him until he has to change faces again," she finally took his hand and allowed him to lead her to the stairs.

"I feel like that detail makes you a bit more violent with me."

"To be fair I'm violent with anyone. You're no exception."

"Hm, not even with the man who brings you.. " he pushed the door open and allowed her out first.

Avalon stepped out into a rather professional-looking room, office styled with people bustling about. There were desks with piles of papers toppling down, small canvases with sketches sprawled in corners. There was one voice, however, that stood out from all the others and that was what made Avalon start walking towards a hallway. The Doctor closed the door of the basement, using the sonic on it so no one would disrupt their sleeping friend in a box. He looked around and followed after the ginger who looked mesmerized the closer they got to the louder voice.

Avalon stopped at a corner and peered around the turn, her breath hitching when she saw a woman with short, blonde hair and deep blue eyes across. The Doctor looked between the ginger and the woman across and decided to step around and head towards the room.

"Wha...Doctor?" Avalon whispered-shouted as the man walked away, "Doctor? Where are you going?"

"Over there," he glanced back and pointed to the room.

"B-but, you can't! We can't! Get back here!"

"Ha, ha, what's this? Avalon Reynolds... _afraid_?"

Avalon stiffened, the Doctor unaware the rather big chord he'd just stricken, and so the ginger fixed herself and promptly stepped from around the corner and started walking. She bit her lip as she stopped at the open doorway of the room, her ears filled with the beautiful singing voice she'd heard so many times in her favorite movie.

 _"...but if I know you, I know what you'll do, you'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream..."_

Avalon watched as the beautiful blonde woman twirled around in a rather large room, several drawers using her as the live reference of the princess. The woman, for some reason being Mary Costa, was doing the reference of the scene in the forest and even if she wasn't a ballet dancer like Helene Stanely (the actual live reference) Avalon believed Mary was doing a fantastic job.

On a spin of the actress, she saw Avalon. "Hello, can we help you?" she asked.

Upon being caught, Avalon gasped and turned around, hurrying away...

When the Doctor yanked her back by the arm. "I don't think so, red."

"What's this? Avalon Reynolds running away voluntarily?" he was genuinely shocked by the ginger's attitude and yet amused at the same time. He dug into his jacket's pocket and pulled out the psychic paper, "Come on," he linked arms with her and walked them inside the room, unperturbed by all the eyes of the drawers plus the actress staring at them, "Hello," he greeted casually, holding up the psychic paper, "Sorry to cut off such a hardworking moment but unfortunately that's our job as..."

"Supervisors?" one of the drawers supplied.

"Yes!" the Doctor pointed at him excitedly, "Supervisors, yup, that's us. My name's the Doctor, this is my co-worker..." he looked at Avalon for her to introduce herself but the ginger was frozen and looking straight at Mary Costa, "...she talks..." he eyed her again, awaiting even a squeak that didn't come, "...most of the time."

"She's probably found something wrong with the costume," Mary sheepishly patted down her Aurora dress, "This isn't actually my job, Helene couldn't make it today so I'm filling in. I'm a horrible dancer though."

"No, you're perfect!" Avalon suddenly exclaimed.

"Ah there we go," the Doctor patted her shoulder, "Told you she talked."

"You are perfect," Avalon shook off his hand as she walked towards Mary, her eyes nearly burning a hole with her stare at the blonde, "You are the most wonderful actress, voice-singer I have ever heard! You are iconic!"

"Too much talking," the Doctor said under his 'cough'.

"Why, thank you so much," Mary actually blushed at the compliments she received.

"No, thank you," Avalon looked her over, beaming over the costume, "You will make a wonderful Aurora, I just know it."

"Thank you," Mary nodded, extending her hand for Avalon.

Avalon blinked with wide eyes at the gesture, "Oh my god..." she took Mary's hand and shook it rather quickly, "...this is such an honor! Hi!"

"My you have some strength," Mary chuckled.

"Oh, sorry!" Avalon realized how big of a fool she was acting and blushed, stepping back, "Sorry, I'm...just..." she looked down and blushed even harder.

"Tired," the Doctor offered from behind, even more amused than before.

"Yes!" she pointed back at him, "Very tired. Hard work and stuff..."

"And yet still looking so pretty," Mary eyed Avalon's pink dress, "Like an actual princess."

"Really?" Avalon breathed, grinning like an idiot, "Thank you!"

"Excuse me but we do have a job to do," one of the drawers cut the moment short and gestured to the unfinished sketches they had in front of them.

"Oops, sorry," Avalon quickly backed away until she was by the Doctor's side, "Go on..." she chuckled nervously.

"What was your name?" Mary asked before Avalon returned to her spot, "I didn't catch it."

"Oh, um," Avalon looked around as she thought of a fake name to use. She couldn't give her name and then risk it somehow coming out on media news in the 50's! She had to come up with another name and fast, "I'm, um...Ava," she suddenly said, smiling nervously, "Ava Williams."

Behind her, the Doctor nearly choked on his own saliva when he'd heard the name. When Avalon turned to him, she was confused to find him staring at her with wide eyes, though she had no idea what was going on through his head.

"Why did you choose that name?" he swallowed hard.

"What?" Avalon scowled.

The Doctor took her towards the doorway, making sure to speak quietly, "The name you just gave. Why'd you choose that?"

"Sorry, I just thought I should play it safe and not give my real name should anything come out to the public about us," Avalon shrugged, "What's the big deal?"

"Nothing," the Doctor sighed, seeing through her eyes that she really didn't know just how much those two names used to mean to her.

"You're weird," Avalon rolled her eyes and moved to join the rest of the crew as Mary began her little scenes.

Avalon followed the movements of the blonde to the very core, her smile never fading. The Doctor looked down at the ginger with a soft smile, knowing for once Avalon was actually, truly _happy_. What he would give to have Lena with them right now. He'd have let the two twins have this trip on their own as a bonding moment for them he'd promised Lena right before she...

"It's true that visions are seldom all they mean..."

" _And if I know you, I know what you'll do_..." Avalon grinned as she followed along in a quiet whisper, actually feeling like her entire dreams were being made true at the moment.

"No, cut," a drawer called and the moment ended, much to Avalon's dismay, "That was wrong!"

"What? What? What? That was just fine!" Avalon rushed towards Mary on the small platform stage, "She was doing fine!"

"No, the twist was wrong," the drawer argued.

"What? A twist is a twist, _idiot_. How would you know what a 'correct twist' looks like?"

"I've been doing this for years now so I damn well know what I'm asking for!"

Avalon's eyes narrowed with a glare no man wanted to be under, "I am the supervisor and I say she is _right_. A twirl is a twirl," and she performed a twirl to prove her point, "Have I made my point?"

Everyone shifted with uneasiness at their strict supervisor, except the Doctor and Mary who were more than amused.

When Avalon felt accomplished she sighed, "Alright then, back to work," she clapped her hands and left Mary's side.

"Well you have a way of taking control," the Doctor said quietly as the others started working again.

"Mm, dad always said I would make my way up to prime minister if I kept it up," she crossed her arms, the Doctor smirking and shaking his head,.

"Oh, is that what you'd like to be in the future?"

She only gave a small look and smiled before focusing again on Mary ahead. "She's doing a fantastic job. I can't believe I'm actually _here_."

When Mary caught the ginger's looks, she stopped her job and motioned for Avalon to come and join her. Avalon, though heavily stunned, still managed to scurry over. The Doctor laughed when she started twirling about with Mary, actually surprised by how well she could sing.

~ 0 ~

"And you know, maybe you should think about another princess with like big red hair and blue eyes! Oh! With a green dress too," Avalon was walking in between two people, a man and woman, happily rambling on to the two amused drawers, "And you can make her Scottish and-"

"Avalon I never thought I'd say this but _stop_ _talking_ ," the Doctor had turned from a corner, nearly covering the ginger's mouth before she gave more spoilers.

The female drawer laughed lightly, "Oh she has splendid ideas."

"Just silly ideas that shouldn't be pondered on for _years_ ," the Doctor gave a scolding look at Avalon.

"She's very creative indeed," the male drawer agreed either his coworker, "She has the creative juices flowing in her head."

"Yes, underneath that thick hair of hers, I'm sure," the Doctor mumbled right before... " _OW_!"

Avalon had stomped on his foot and turned to face her new friends with a sweet smile. "You two are so kind to me."

"Is he going to be fine?" the female drawer pointed at the Doctor behind them, currently hopping on one foot.

"Just fine," Avalon waved her off with a grin.

"Would you like to see other sketches we have for a future story?"

"Cami, I would love to," Avalon, graciously, put a hand on her chest.

"Great, Oscar and I will wait for you in the lounge, then," Cami took a look at the Doctor who was barely trying to set his foot on the floor without wincing, "You alright back there?" she called, looking between the two with confusion. Avalon looked like such a small thing, how hard could she have hurt him with a foot?

"Oh he's fine," Avalon shrugged, "He's over dramatic."

"Overdramatic!?" the Doctor repeated in indignation, finally standing properly.

"I'll meet you in the lounge in a bit," Avalon said and the drawers moved on. After they were gone she turns to face the Doctor with a glare, "Learned your lesson yet?"

"Lesson of what?" he frowned, "Stopping you from giving away an entire character that won't be developed for another 62 years?" he grew serious of the matter as he continued, "You out of all people understand how timelines work. I know you're excited and happy and you can't keep up with what you're saying but I'm asking you to make an effort."

Avalon nodded, understanding she was at fault here. He was right, if it had been the other way around she probably would've smacked him for doing such a stupid thing. Timelines are important, no matter if it's letting WW2 happen or making sure a certain movie didn't develop until 2012; it was all important.

"I'm sorry," she finally spoke, the Doctor seeing the immediate guilt flash in her eyes, "I promise I will keep my mouth shut."

The Doctor smiled in relief, "Thank you. Now, why don't you go and give them pointers on how to make _this_ movie a good one?"

"I can do that?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Well, they had to have gotten their ideas from somewhere, perhaps it was a certain feisty ginger," he put an arm around her shoulders as they started down the corridor towards the lounge, "Maybe it was a certain time traveling feisty ginger."

Avalon rolled her eyes at his less than indirects, "Well...they could use some pointers..." she admitted, "...maybe I could help a little."

"There we go!" the Doctor laughed.

"I'll do it," she declared with a nod and a smirk.

~ 0 ~

Later on, Avalon had gone into a different room full of sketches that had been discarded from the movie. She liked seeing the brilliant, colorful sketches that could've been just as wonderful on the television. She heard someone by the doorway and looked up, surprised to see Mary standing.

"I thought they were pretty good," the blonde remarked, crossing her arms as she came to the table Avalon was at, stopping across.

"Yeah, I think that too," Avalon nodded.

"Where's your friend?" Mary looked around to the solitary room.

"Oh, he's out bugging people," Avalon shrugged as she laid a paper back on the table, "The usual for him."

"That's a bit mean, don't you think?"

Avalon sighed and nodded, "Yeah, it is."

"Is something wrong?" Mary noticed how quiet the ginger had gone in a one-two.

"No," Avalon winced, "Well, with me, yeah, lots of things are wrong."

"Why do you say that?"

"That friend of mine, the Doctor, he's brought me to this place just to make me happy and I've been so mean to him," Avalon shook her head.

"Has he done something to you?"

"No, that's the worst part," Avalon bitterly laughed, "He's done nothing but take me and our other friend, Amy, to these wonderful places that I would've never imagined, and yet I'm still mean and rude."

"Honey, I don't understand," Mary awkwardly smiled, "If he's done all that then how come you're still mean?"

"Because I am not a nice person," Avalon declared with resignation.

"Oh," Mary blinked. She felt a loss of words in her mind quickly; she'd never been told anything like that with such...acceptance.

"I'm not nice, there's a fact of my life that stands out," Avalon walked around, forgetting about the amazing drawings the more she though about it, "It's not that I like being rude, it's just...that's who I am, you know?" she shrugged, "I can't help what I say. And, I mean, on some level, I've grown to be bitter because of my family. Maybe that's where...all this anger started..."

"What could your family have done to make you, um...?" Mary didn't want to finish the sentence because she felt rude calling such a nice, lovely girl 'mean'. She didn't seem like it despite her assurances, the Doctor sure didn't make it seem like that either.

"My parents have kept a huge secret from me," Avalon turned to Mary, leaning against another table, "I'm not their daughter," she said casually, Mary's eyes widening at the news, "In all their life they've only one biological child, my younger brother. But me? I'm not my mother's child, and there's this whole debate about whether or not the Dad I have is actually my Dad or not. It kind of takes a toll on a person after so many years. I guess all that has grown to make me a bad person. You're the first person I ever tell about this, so...I guess I'm the embodiment of 'bottling things up'."

Mary smiled softly and decided to walk up to the ginger woman, "Why haven't you ever tried talking to your parents about this?"

"Nah, I don't have the least bit of interest," Avalon looked straight ahead when she answered that, letting Mary know that she wasn't being honest, "I just wanted my parents to tell me, to look me in the face and tell me that I'm not their child."

"Alright, I won't press on that because I can see it's a touchy subject and probably not my business," Mary smiled, "But what I can tell you is not to let it affect the person you are today. Don't let it ruin your relationships with others. That friend of yours, I can tell he really cares about you and he really brought you here just give you a happy moment."

"I know, and it makes me feel bad that I'm always such a prick to him. He could drop me back home and yet, he keeps me around."

"Oh, now don't make yourself sound like a puppy or something," Mary scolded while Avalon just laughed, "It's called being a friend, and friends do not leave each other no matter what."

"Yeah," Avalon nodded, "Now if I could just be a good friend back."

"I think that's possible," Mary assured, "If you want it, just go for it. Besides, no offense to your friend or anything, but he seems a bit oblivious to your attitude. It shouldn't be that hard to fix things."

Avalon chuckled, "Sometimes he gets it."

"And sometimes he doesn't, perfect way to make things work."

Avalon nodded, "I guess. I guess I'll try with actual effort to be a better person. Because at the rate I'm going, it looks like my father is never going to reveal the secret to me. I thought with the death of my mother, he would finally tell me, but I was wrong."

"Maybe he just wants to protect you," Mary offered, "You don't know under what circumstances you arrived so don't be so hard on him. Tell me, did you feel loved by your mother and father?" Avalon nodded, "Then don't worry about everything else. Your real mom and dad don't matter, sorry if that sounds rude or anything, but it really doesn't. One day, when you're ready, you can go look for them but if you feel content with what you had then focus on that and let go of some of that bitterness. I think you look very pretty when you smile."

"Thank you," Avalon genuinely said, giving Mary a hug, "Oh you have no idea how much this means to me coming from you."

"I'm glad I could help," Mary smiled and pulled away.

"I really mean it," Avalon insisted, not about to let the woman brush it off as simple help, "You, Mary Costa, are my one and only idol. What you do in this move, I will always remember it. It's my favorite movie, my favorite princess, my favorite story of all time. Your song, your voice, I absolutely love. You know, I learned to sing just because of this movie and your voice," Avalon gave a small, genuine laugh, "So to be here, it's an honor, and to have you advising me...I will never forget about this, ever."

Mary felt tears build in her eyes at the words she'd just listened to, "Thank you," she sputtered before chuckling in embarrassment, "Say, how well do you think you sing?"

"Hm? How come?"

Mary smiled knowingly as an idea started in her head, "Come with me," she took Avalon by the hand and hurried them out the door.

~ 0 ~

"Doctor! Doctor!" Avalon shouted as she ran down the hallways.

She'd been calling for a good five minutes for the alien and so far she'd only received the odd stares of the other workers, not that she cared! There was only one that ran through her head at the moment.

"Doctor! Doc-" Avalon's shout was cut short when she crashed into the alien himself, "Ow," she rubbed her forehead.

"Have I mentioned you are really good at screaming?" the Doctor rubbed one of his ears with a frown.

"Comes in handy," Avalon waved it off, "But that's not important, guess what?"

"What?"

Avalon bit her lip as a huge, bright smile spread on her face, "I'm going to be in the movie," she whispered.

"You're _what_!?"

"I'm going to be in the movie!" Avalon exclaimed and burst into laughter.

"Avalon, Avalon, come here," the Doctor pulled her to the side and looked around in case anyone overheard, "Avalon, you're from the _future_. You can't be in a movie that's recognized worldwide!"

Avalon just chuckled, "Oh don't worry, I'm not actually going to appear _in_ the movie."

"You're not?" the Doctor couldn't follow by that.

"Mary, she, um, she heard me sing..." Avalon bit her lip as another excited squeal threatened to escape her lips, "...she thought I was _good_. Not just that, she said I was _amazing_. Can you believe that? Mary Costa thought _me_ , Avalon Reynolds, was an amazing singer!" Avalon finally squealed again, "And the others heard me and they think I would be good for the chorus opening and ending. Doctor, do you know what that means?"

"No," he shook his head.

"If I were to take part in this it would make me the _first_ female singer in a princess chorus theme. Because, for Snow White and Cinderella it was always men...but for Sleeping Beauty...it'll be _me_ ," she pointed to herself with a big grin, "Please tell me I can do it! Please!?" she clapped her hands together.

The Doctor blinked with surprise, "Wait...you're asking me for permission?" Avalon nodded, "Am I hearing right?" he tapped his ears, "Avalon Reynolds asking _permission_?"

"Shut up," Avalon playfully hit his arm, "I'm being serious. I know my share of information of time traveling but _you_ are the expert so it's best that you tell me whether or not I can do this."

"Then...go ahead," he genuinely smiled as her eyes widened with shock, "You go and sing for your favorite movie. Just don't let your face be caught on camera."

"You mean it?" Avalon put her hands on his arms, "You're not just joking!?"

"I mean it," the Doctor assured.

Avalon squealed with excitement and hugged him, "Oh my god! I get to sing...in the movie!" she pulled away and stared at him, "I'm going to sing...professionally...like a princess!" she clapped her hands together.

The Doctor watched her with happiness, feeling actually proud of himself. This was the first time Avalon had shown excitement, true _happiness_ about something. It made it even better to know that she was happy over something she loved. He rarely got to see such a spectacle like this so he was _not_ going to ruin this for her.

"Well then, what are you waiting for?" he turned her around, "Off we are!"

"Come with me!" she took his hand, "I've never done anything like this."

"But you've committed robbery several times," he reminded.

"Well...yeah but that was with my friend Mels...and it was just casual."

It seemed that most of the times Avalon had committed a crime for Lena's sake had been rewritten into ones she'd committed with that friend Mels. The Doctor had gone as far as asking Amy about the robberies just to see what would be the response. Amy had said that Mels and Avalon simply loved getting into trouble with the law. The Doctor had nearly intervene and said Avalon was not a criminal by choice but by _need_. But of course that would have to have included an explanation which would then need the re-introduction of Lena Reynolds...a woman who no longer existed.

"Avalon, it's not casual to steal," the Doctor sighed, resigning to leave it the way she pictured her crimes, "But yes, of course I'll come with you."

Avalon beamed, "Yes! C'mon!"

~ 0 ~

The Doctor was genuinely surprised to find out just how talented of a singer Avalon really was. He'd heard small snippets of her singing but only by accident like she just happening to be humming and singing in whispers when he passed by. He'd never actually seen her upclose and at a loud volume. She sang beautifully and deserved to be where she was now.

"You know, I think she could make it as an opera singer," Mary had come up beside the Doctor, "Heaven knows I'd go to that show."

"Me too," the Doctor smiled.

"One would never think upon seeing her like this that she's so terribly sad."

The Doctor's smile faded at those words and glanced at her, "What do you mean?"

"Look, it's no mystery that you're not from this world," Mary spoke in a hush, "Avalon carries herself like she has knowledge of this movie, of myself...she's not from this world. However, it's not difficult for me to see in Avalon's eyes the pain she's suffered. What's happened?" she met the Doctor's eyes with seriousness. Because as much as she thought about the bit Avalon told her about her parents, the sadness in her eyes was not accounted for. "And don't lie to me. I also know you're not really supervisors."

The Doctor sighed. "Avalon...had a sister."

"She died?" Mary guessed by the lack of the talk of it from Avalon.

"More than that," the Doctor swallowed, "She, um...she ceased to exist in the universe."

Mary's eyes widened, "Excuse me?" she turned completely to him, "I won't take a joke like that, you know."

"It's no joke, Mary," the Doctor shook his head, "Her name was Lena Reynolds, twin of Avalon, and...she died protecting Avalon. There's cracks in the universe, cracks that can erase things and people from existence and it happened to Lena after she died. Avalon doesn't remember but her subconscious tries to fight it by giving her these small moments where she does or says something like Lena did, or she'd usually do for Lena. The pain you see in her eyes is the pain of losing a sister."

Mary glanced back at the singing ginger across them. There were no words she could say as a response of everything the Doctor had just said. First of all, she could barely understand that it was even _possible_ to be erased from the universe. Second of all, she couldn't fathom the idea of losing a sister and subconsciously remembering only pieces of her.

"You can't tell Avalon any of this," the Doctor warned as he watched Mary stare at Avalon, "None of it."

"So...she'll never remember she had a sister?"

"No, no one will ever remember there was a sweet woman named Lena Reynolds," the Doctor sighed, "Nor a brave man named Rory Williams," he whispered.

"That is _so_ sad," May whispered as well, "Now I understand it. A pain like that can never be erased, not even through some magical cracks."

"That's why I brought here. She deserves some fun. She always talks about this movie and..."

"That's very sweet of you," May looked at him with a small smile, "You're a very good friend."

"A better one would've saved her twin."

"Now stop it, you can't blame yourself for a twin trying to protect their sibling. It's in the blood to protect one's family," Mary sighed, "But I won't say anything. I'll pretend like I never met two time travelers," the Doctor looked at her with surprise, "Please, it's not that hard," Mary chuckled, "If you're not from this world and you have knowledge of the future...you have to be time travelers."

"You are taking this surprisingly well," the Doctor said, "I can see why Avalon likes you."

"She said such nice words to me," Mary lightly chuckled, "I don't understand how she can be a 'mean person'."

"She said that?"

"Mhm, we talked," Mary nodded, "She's really sorry for how she's treated you, by the way."

"Oh, she doesn't need to apologize," the Doctor made a face, "She's sarcastic and points out my faults. That's not being mean, that's just giving me a reality check," Mary laughed at that, and eventually he did too.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor reopened the TARDIS door for Avalon and was promptly pushed to the side to let an excited, hasty Avalon run inside, "I gotta see the movie! I got to see the movie!" she exclaimed as she headed for the corridors.

She'd finished recording her voice for the choir version of Once Upon a Dream. She'd asked the Doctor as soon as they were finished if her voice would actually make it into the modern Sleeping Beauty movie and received a deceitful shrug. She _needed_ to get the movie and check the credits as well as actually seeing and hearing her voice in the movie. That made her quicken the visit with Mary Costa. They bid goodbye to the woman and even said they'd be back to visit her in her timeline. Avalon was a bit surprised to hear that Mary had discovered they were time travelers. Of course that meant that she could actually visit and be friends with Mary Costa so that turned out even better than Avalon would ever hope so. Oh she truly was thankful to the Doctor for bringing her there, especially because...

The Doctor flinched at the sound of a shrill scream and quickly hurried for the corridors, only to come crashing into Avalon.

"It's here! It's here! It's here!" she jumped up and down while waving the Sleeping Beauty DVD box in her hand. The Doctor realized she screamed of joy and simply sighed, only hoping she hadn't awoken Amy and scared her. "Look, Doctor! It's my name on the credits!" Avalon showed him the back of the case.

The Doctor took a look and was surprised to find an 'Ava Williams' listed as a special feature of the movie. It was a snippet of her recording the song salvaged from the 50's. It seemed like Avalon turned out to be a bit more famous than she thought.

"I have to see this!" Avalon squealed and hurried to the media room, the Doctor deciding to go check it out. He was curious to see what exactly had been filmed of her.

By the time he had caught up, Avalon had already placed the movie in the DVD player and was watching the opening of the movie. She squealed like a little girl at the sound of her voice that sang the 'old version' of Once Upon a Dream.

The Doctor smiled and came in to stand beside her, "Well someone is famous now," he looked at her.

"Al this time...I never even realized it was _my_ voice," she blinked, "I guess I just never paid attention. I always thought I just happened to sound like this 'Ava Williams' and..." she started to laugh, "...I wanted to sing just like her...and I _am_ her! I'm Ava Williams!"

"Congratulations," the Doctor smiled.

"Thank you," she set a hand on his arm, "Oh! Let's see the special feature!" she quickly grabbed the DVD remote and navigated to the special features part where the name Ava Williams reappeared again.

She pressed the video to play and found an old black and white two minute video of _her_ doing the recording with the instruments around her. Thankfully, she was looking down most of the time and so made it difficult to try and recognize her. Avalon's eyes teared up as she watched what could possibly be the most treasured moment of her life. She felt a tap on her shoulder and looked to see the Doctor holding a hand to her. She wiped her face dry and laughed lightly, agreeing to take his hand.

"I'll warn you I'm not that great of a dancer," the Doctor warned.

"Then why did you initiate this?" Avalon raised an eyebrow. As they started to dance along to the music from the television, she discreetly looked down and saw he was doing just fine.

"Because I thought you may have wanted to dance to your own song," the Doctor smiled nervously, "Was I wrong?"

"I'm dancing with you, aren't I?" she gestured and laughed, "Thank you _so_ much for all this, fairy tale man. I will never forget the moment I was Ava Williams."

"Neither will I," the Doctor said. "Can I ask you one thing, though?"

"Sure!"

"...do you trust me?"

Avalon laughed. "Of course I do! I know I'm...difficult, but that's just me. And I promise I'll work on that but...it was never because I didn't trust you."

The Doctor beamed at her response. It alleviated his major concern and now settled to just make sure she and Amy continued to have the best adventures possible.

~ 0 ~

Amy Pond had awoken at the sounds of screams and had rushed out of her bed. She'd grabbed a sleeping robe and slippers then rushed to the corridors. She hadn't heard anymore screams but her concern wouldn't fade and so she made rounds and rounds along the corridors, getting the faint idea that perhaps the TARDIS was messing her a bit because she kept passing some of the same rooms repeatedly. Amy wondered why the box would do something like that if she only wanted to check up on the Doctor and Avalon. Though when she heard small laughter and reached the media room, she had some ideas why she was being forced into circles.

Amy poked her head into the media room and was startled to see the Doctor and Avalon dancing together to 'Once Upon a Dream', Avalon's favorite song. Amy watched the Doctor dip Avalon, the curly-haired ginger laughing as she was brought up. Discreetly, Amy tip-toed away from the room with a big smirk plastered on her face.

Amy looked up, "Alright, we best not interrupt them, eh?" she received a hum from the TARDIS as a response, making Amy laugh and hurry back to her room.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Honestly, I would have loved to meet Mary Costa since Sleeping Beauty is also my all-time favorite princess! I always try to insert a trait of mine into each of my OCs and this is what Avalon got xD. But anyways, I hope this chapter was fun to read! I wanted to show a chapter focusing on where Avalon & the Doctor really were post-Lena's death. Avalon's a tough woman, right?

 **For the Reviews:**

 **TheBlueRiver** : I'm sooooorry. I debated whether or not to actually go through with this idea but ultimately I decided that, realistically, Avalon would not be able to find herself if Lena was around. It's a bad thing to say, I know, but that's where Avalon was unfortunately.

 **SuperNova** : So sorry for taking forever to post this one! I had an internship that I was going to and it left me with little time for other things! :)

 **mlr96** : Yes, like I said in the first review, realistically speaking Avalon wouldn't get started on her life if Lena was still around. That's just how focused Avalon was on Lena - yikes!

 **ANON** : I'm so sorry for being late in updating but...better late than never, right? ^.^


	12. Hopeful Painting

The Doctor, Avalon, and Amy walked through an exhibition room that was displaying Vincent Van Gogh's artwork. While Avalon seemed a bit bored, Amy moved ahead with her guidebook, excited to see evey last artwork in the room.

"Thanks for bringing us," she looked back at the Doctor, "Well, _me_ ," she glanced at Avalon, "Cos Avalon would rather be pretty much anywhere else."

"You are pretty much right," Avalon confirmed and laughed, "I'm not one for arts."

"Well, I asked if you'd rather choose another place instead," Amy reminded.

"I'm good," Avalon looked around with a smile, "I'm very, very, good."

Amy watched the ginger move along with that smile of hers, the Doctor following her to a random painting, both actually getting along without bickering. It had been a common thing for them ever since Amy caught them in the media room dancing together. They'd been closer - Avalon actually being nice 90% of the time and more...happy. Amy didn't want to confront either of them with the hidden dance she'd seen for fear of ruining their new relationship. It was nice to see them getting along and she wanted it to last.

Avalon was gazing at a painting and talking to the Doctor only to realize the bloody alien wasn't even listening! He was looking back at two boys in front of another painting, talking about a doctor. Avalon rolled her eyes and slapped his arm, making him jump and look back at her, "I was talking!" she frowned.

"Hm? Oh, right, I completely agree," the Doctor made an effort to seem like he'd been paying attention.

"Oh really, you agree with everything I just said?" Avalon crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Yes, I complete agree," the Doctor nodded. He didn't want to irritate her and backtrack their relationship that had actually been going so well lately. Yes, she still was a bit mean at times but it wasn't on purpose nor to be rude as she used to be when Lena was around. He could tell Avalon was really trying now and it made him want to make things as easy as possible for her to keep at it. That included not irritating her with his short attention span.

"Okay then," Avalon held her hand out with a sly smile, "Hand over the TARDIS key."

"What!?"

"Well, you just said I could go back and learn how drive it while you and Amy look around," Avalon wiggled her fingers, "So c'mon, hand it over."

The Doctor nervously laughed and quickly moved beside her with an arm around her shoulders, "Let's save that for later, shall we? We can spend quality time with Amy and-"

"You weren't listening at all, just say it," Avalon crossed her arms again.

"I wasn't listening at all," he gave up and sighed. Another way to avoid conflict was to always say the truth with her.

Avalon rolled her eyes and shook his arm off, "Next time just say so or who knows what you may end up giving up to me. The TARDIS...the screwdriver..."

"I'm gonna stop you right there," the Doctor pointed. He frowned when she just laughed and walked away from him, "What is so funny?" he called.

Amy walked by him holding her guidebook and squealed at the sight of 'The Church at Auvers', "Eek! Look!" she grabbed the Doctor by he arm and pulled him to the painting, "There it is, the actual one!"

The Doctor smiled at the excitement of the woman and looked at the painting, "Yes. You can almost feel his hand painting it right in front of you. Carving the colors into shapes..." but he trailed off when he spotted a figure in one of the church's windows, "Wait a minute..."

Amy noticed the change of tone and frowned, "What?"

"Well, just look at that," the Doctor pointed.

"What?" Amy shook her head. It was just a painting!

Avalon returned and gasped, "Did someone say we're leaving?"

Amy shot her a confused look, "What? No! We weren't even saying anything!"

"Damn," Avalon muttered, "It was a worth a try."

"You really want to get out of here, don't you?" Amy crossed her arms and smiled in amusement at her friend.

"Honestly, yes," Avalon nodded then noticed the locked gaze the Doctor had on the painting, "What's wrong?" she asked him, "Never seen a church before, or..."

"Look there, in the window of the church," he pointed again.

Both gingers looked closely at the painting and genuinely gasped of concern when they saw a dark figure in one of the windows of the church. Amy leaned forwards and stared more intently, "Is it a face?"

"And not a nice one," Avalon looked back at the Doctor with a bright smile, "Does that mean we get to leave now?"

The Doctor made a 'stop talking' motion with his hand and noticed one of the lecturers nearby, Dr. Black, and quickly headed over.

"Did he just give me 'the hand'?" Avalon blinked with a mouth half-open, "Amy?"

Amy put a hand on Avalon's arm, gripping it so she would be forced to stay still, "Let's not kill the man who's our only ride."

"Hm," Avalon huffed and started walking after the Doctor anyways, pulling Amy who yelped with the girl's strength.

They caught up with the Doctor just as he was asking Dr. Black about the painting, "Do you know when that picture of the church was painted?"

"Ah, what an interesting question. Most people..."

"I'm going to have to hurry you," the Doctor cut in as he saw the man taking his sweet time to answer, "When was it?"

"Exactly?"

"As exactly as you can. Without a long speech, if poss. I'm in a hurry."

"Well, in that case, probably somewhere between the 1st and 3rd of June."

"What year?"

"1890. Less than a year before he killed himself."

"Thank you, sir. Very helpful indeed. Nice bow-tie," the Doctor pointed to the man's own bow tie and looked back at the gingers behind him, "Bow-ties are cool."

"Not really," Avalon whispered sarcastically to Amy who snickered.

"Yours is very..." Dr. Black also pointed to the Doctor's bow-tie.

"Oh, thank you. Keep telling them stuff," the Doctor turned to Avalon and Amy, although before he could say anything, Avalon interrupted.

"And we get to leave, yes!" she cheered and clapped her hands, "Meet you there!" she waved and ran off.

"She really does not like museums," the Doctor blinked at such haste.

"Mhm," Amy agreed and so they followed.

~ 0 ~

The group stepped out of the TARDIS to find themselves in a dark night and solitary alleyway of a town. The Doctor led the women through the alleyway while explaining the 'plan', "Right, so here's the plan. We find Vincent and he leads us straight to the church and our nasty friend. "

"Easy peasy," Amy shrugged.

"Have you met the Doctor?" Avalon scoffed, the man about to defend himself but realized she was absolutely right and therefore shut his mouth, "Not to mention Van Gogh's own problems," she continued, "We'll be lucky if he even accepts our friendship."

"Well, we can always hope and try," Amy shrugged.

Avalon scoffed, "'Hope', that's a good one. It doesn't exist," she muttered and moved on with arms crossed.

The Doctor and Amy silently followed after Avalon, both of them glum due to Avalon's words. They arrived at the local cafe of the town where they figured Vincent Van Gogh would most likely be at the moment.

The Doctor approached the cafe and saw the owner by the entrance, "Good evening," he greeted, "Does the name Vincent Van Gogh ring a bell?"

"Don't mention that man to me," the owner muttered and walked into the cafe.

The Doctor turned to the maids clearing up the tables outside the cafe and tried one more time, "Excuse me. Do you know Vincent Van Gogh?"

The waitress closest to him made a distasteful face, "Unfortunately."

"Unfortunately?" Amy walked over to the entrance of the cafe where the Doctor stood.

"He's drunk, he's mad and he never pays his bills."

"And yet he paints marvelously, doesn't he?" Avalon asked.

Her answer was the laughter of the waitresses combined with the customers at the tables.

"I thought you didn't like art," the Doctor moved to Avalon, a bit dejected from the laughter.

"Just because I don't like art doesn't mean I don't recognize the talent," Avalon shrugged.

"Come on! Come on!" they heard a man's pleads from the inside of the cafe, slowly carrying over as the voices grew closer to the door, "One painting for one drink. That's not a bad deal."

The owner emerged from the cafe holding a canvas and turned around just as a second man came out. Amy, who stood across Avalon and the Doctor and therefore closer to Vincent Van Gogh, nearly hopped up and down from excitement. The Doctor gave her a thumbs-up while Avalon playfully rolled her eyes and took a seat at an empty table.

"It wouldn't be a bad deal if the painting were any good," the owner argued, "I can't hang that up on my walls. It'd scare the customers half to death," he waved Vincent's self-portrait painting, "It's bad enough having you in here in person, let alone looming over the customers day and night in a stupid hat. You pay money or you get out."

"It's not a stupid hat you know," Avalon joined the conversation, or argument, "And I wouldn't make a fashion statement while wearing that," she pointed to the attire of the owner.

"What my good friend meant to say-" the Doctor began a bit nervously.

But Avalon cut him off with a loud scoff, "-I meant what I said," she informed and promptly received a hand over her mouth, making her glare at the Doctor.

"Anyways," the Doctor gave a bright smile, "We'll pay if you'd like."

"What?" the owner turned to them, still eyeing Avalon coldly for her rude comments.

"Well, if you like. We'll pay for the drink. Or we'll pay for the painting and you can use the money to pay for the drink."

Vincent turned to the pair with confusion, "Exactly who are you?"

"We're...new in town."

"Well, in that case, you don't know three things. One, I pay for my own drinks, thank you," Vincent was startled by the immediate laughter of everyone nearby, "Two, no-one ever buys any of my paintings or they would be laughed out of town, so if you want to stay in town, I suggest you keep your cash to yourself. And three, your friends are cute," he pointed to Avalon and Amy behind, "But that one-" he pointed at Avalon again, "-looks like she's about to kill you."

"That's common," was all the Doctor had to say, glancing at Avalon for some kind of opinion until he realized he was still covering her mouth, "Sorry," he mumbled and took his hand back.

"I really was," Avalon agreed with Vincent, "So," she looked at the owner, "How's about you let the man have another drink and you'll be paid tomorrow."

"No," the owner spat at her.

"Or, on the other hand," Vincent looked at him again, "Slightly more compassionately, yes."

"Or, on the other hand, to protect my business from madmen, no."

"Or-"

Amy had enough and stepped in between the two men, "Oh, look, just shut up the pair of you!" she pushed them apart and turned to the owner, "I would like a bottle of wine, please, which I will then share with whomever..." she glanced at Vincent, "...I choose."

Vincent smiled, "That could be good.'

The owner shrugged, seeing himself being paid either way, "That's good by me," he walked off into the cafe again.

"Good," Amy proudly said and followed.

~ 0 ~

After receiving the bottle of wine, Amy had taken a seat beside Vincent at the table Avalon had chosen to sit in earlier. She'd placed the wine and glasses on the table for everyone and had gotten rather well with Vincent.

"That accent of yours. You from Holland like me?" Vincent asked her

"No," Amy shook her head at the same time the Doctor had answered 'yes' with a nod.

"Why don't we start again?" Avalon suggested and leaned back on her chair, "Hi, my name is Avalon. That's Amy, and that's the Doctor-"

"I knew it!" Vincent startled Avalon with his near shout.

"I'm sorry?" she frowned.

"My brother's always sending doctors, but you won't be able to help," Vincent warned with a finger at the Doctor.

"No, not that kind of doctor," the Doctor chuckled and noticed one of the Vincent's unfinished paintings on his side and pointed, "That's incredible, don't you think, Amy? Avalon?"

"Absolutely. One of my favorites," Amy nodded while Avalon merely gave a shrug and sip her wine.

"One of my favorite whats?" Vincent suspiciously looked at Amy, "You've never seen my work before."

While Amy went into a state of stutters, Avalon calmly set her wine glass on the table and sighed, "She means it's the best painting she's seen in her life," Amy quickly nodded.

Vincent sighed, "Then she can't have seen many paintings, then."

"Oh no, she's seen many," Avalon shot the ginger a mock-glare, "I know because she's dragged Mels and I to every last museum she's ever heard of."

"I have not," Amy leaned on the table.

Avalon scoffed, "Your lying is becoming a sickness, Amy. Don't you feel shame of lying in front of Vincent?"

"You are over exaggeration!"

"Am not. If Mels were here, she'd back me up," Avalon smirked.

"Your hair is orange," Vincent cut in and made both gingers look at him, though Avalon saw the comment hadn't been for her but for Amy instead.

Avalon scoffed again and crossed her arms, leaning back on her chair, "Going to have to step up your flirting, Vincent."

"I think he's doing just fine," Amy shot her a mock-scowl and leaned closer to Vincent, "Your hair's also orange."

"Yes. It was more orange, but now is, of course, less."

"So, Vincent, painted any churches recently?" the Doctor had to intervene. He didn't know what would be worse: hearing Avalon and Amy bickering or the flirting between the painter and the Scott, "Any churchy plans? Are churches, chapels, religiousy stuff like that, something you'd like to get into? You know, fairly soon?"

"Way to be suttle," Avalon mumbled.

Vincent was too focused on Amy to notice the insistence on the painting, "Well, there is one church I'm thinking of painting when the weather is right."

"That is very good news," the Doctor gave Avalon a smile, only to see her reaching for more wine. He smacked her hand away and ignored the death glare she had for him. He could only imagine how much her temper would be emphasized with alcohol and that was something he'd rather not see any time soon.

A woman came running down from an alley screaming, "She's been murdered! Help me!"

"That doesn't sound good," Avalon bolted out from her chair and ran towards the screaming woman but not before smacking the Doctor upside the head.

"That woman is incredibly strong," the Doctor rubbed his head as he glumly stood up, ignoring the laughter from Amy and Vincent by running after Avalon and the screams.

They found Avalon pushing her way through a crowd of local townsfolk and all saw a young girl's corpse laying on the ground. The Doctor quickly dropped to the girl's side and checked for any vital...before he saw the corpse was actually dismembered.

"Oh my god," Avalon breathed and put a hand over her mouth, "She's been ripped...to SHREDS."

That didn't look like anything a normal...'murder' should look like. It didn't seem like the town had animals roaming around and if anything, the nearby locals would've heard the roars of an animal. It had to be something different, something...not human.

Amy moved closer to Avalon and tried looking away from the corpse while Vincent moved to the Doctor's side. However, the women found themselves pushed to the side by a middle-aged woman shouting at the group, "Away, all of you vultures! This is my daughter," she knelt beside her daughter's corpse, "Giselle. What monster could have done this?" she shooed away the Doctor and Vincent, "Get away from her!"

"OK, OK," the Doctor stood up and backed away with Vincent.

"Get that madman out of here!" the mother glared at Vincent and picked up a nearby rock to throw at him, "You bring this on us. Your madness! You! He's to blame!"

The rest of the crowd started throwing rocks at the group and forced them to run from the spot. They ended up on the other side of the alleyway to catch their breaths,

"Are you alright?" the Doctor looked at Vincent.

"Yes, I'm used to it," Vincent nodded.

"I know the feeling," Avalon mumbled and sighed.

The Doctor looked at her for a minute, confused and yet surprised by her words. He glanced at Amy and immediately the ginger looked away as if trying to avoid something. "Vincent, has anything like this murder happened here before?" he returned to the moment at the sound of Avalon asking the painter.

"Only a week ago. It's a terrible time," Vincent sighed.

"One could say it's a monstrosity," Avalon glanced at the Doctor and nodded with her head to the painter.

"Come on, we'd better get you home," the Doctor clapped a hand on Vincent's shoulder.

"Where are you staying tonight?"

"What a gentleman," Avalon grinned, "We accept, don't we Doctor?"

"Completely," he agreed and moved to link arms with her, both heading off and leaving a stunned painter and nervous ginger.

Amy smiled at Vincent and quickly hurried to catch up to her friends. Vincent put on his hat and walked after the group, no idea what had just happened.

~ 0 ~

"Dark night, very starry," the Doctor remarked as he looked up at the sky.

Avalon pulled him by the jacket before he crashed into a wall, muttering, "Idiot," as she caught them up to Amy and Vincent.

"It's not much. I live on my own," Vincent was saying to Amy, "But you should be OK for one night. _One_ night."

"We're going to stay with him?" Avalon whispered to the Doctor.

"Until he paints that church."

Vincent entered his cottage first and lighted a lamp, "Watch out," he called to them, "That one's wet!"

"What?" Amy hadn't caught his warn but noticed the painting 'Bedroom in Arles' at the doorstep and paused to look at it, letting the others pass by.

"Sorry about the clutter," Vincent was going around the cottage lighting up more lamps, each additional light allowing the trio to see more and more of his artwork.

"Some clutter," the Doctor raised his eyebrows at all the soon-to-be priceless artworks hung around so carelessly.

"I've come to accept the only person who's going to love my paintings is me," Vincent sighed.

"Mm, you may want to revise that sentence,"Avalon crossed her arms and nodded back to Amy who was slowly going around the paintings, "You may have your number one fan."

Vincent merely smiled at the comments and headed over to another room, "Coffee, anyone?"

"Not for me, actually," the Doctor followed and was horrified to see Vincent putting down a coffee pitcher on one of his paintings, Still Life: Basket with Six Oranges' like it was a simple table, "You know, you should be careful with these. They're..." he winced as Vincent wiped off the coffee stain from the painting with a couple fingers, "...precious."

Vincent scoffed, "Precious to me. Not precious to anyone else."

Avalon cleared her throat as she entered and pulled Amy with her, "Like I said, number one fan," she nodded to Amy.

"They're precious to me!" Amy agreed.

"Well, you're very kind. And kindness is most welcome," Vincent walked out to the main room again and went to sticks of wood around for the wood.

"Right, so, this church, then. Near here, is it?" the Doctor followed him out, Avalon and Amy walking behind him.

"What is it with you and the church?" Vincent gave the alien an odd look.

"Oh, just casually interested in it, you know," the Doctor shrugged.

"Far from casual. Seems to me. you never talk about anything else," Vincent remarked and looked at the gingers, "He's a strange one."

Avalon scoffed, "That is probably the understatement of his life," she smirked at the Doctor who opened his mouth to retaliate but quickly shut it when he figured it was true. Avalon did a look-over of the room again and sighed, "I'd ask what you like Vincent but I think it's pretty obvious," she smiled, "Art."

Vincent nodded, "Just a bit, eh?" she nodded and chuckled, "For me, it seems to me there's so much more to the world than the average eye is allowed to see. I believe, if you look hard, there are more wonders in this universe than you could ever have dreamed of."

"You don't have to tell me," the Doctor agreed with a content sigh.

~ 0 ~

A while later would find the Doctor sitting on a chair listening to Vincent, or rather being forced to listen after the cups of coffee the painter had taken. Vincent was pacing back and forth, passionately talking about his view of art, "It's color. Color that holds the key. I can hear the colors. Listen to them. Every time I step outside, I feel nature is shouting at me. "Come on. Come and get me. Come on. Come on!" he grabbed the Doctor by the lapels of his jacket and shouted, "Capture my mystery!"

"Maybe you've had enough coffee now," the Doctor slowly removed the painter's hands from his jacket, "How about some nice calming tea? Avalon makes good cups of tea, Avalon..." he trailed off when he noticed Avalon, who'd grabbed a chair and placed it across him, was fast asleep.

He frowned and stood up, forgetting the tea, and walked up to the ginger. It seemed like despite the time that passed, Avalon simply could not sleep. He'd even taken custom of taking 'late-night trips' with her because she always ended up coming into the console a couple hours after she and Amy excused themselves for sleep. He had wanted to really look into that, her insomnia, but every time he asked about it Avalon would become irritated and defensive, something that wouldn't help their relationship. He simply didn't want to push her. But looking at how easy she fell asleep and in such a poor posture...it seemed like she was on the verge of breaking. He knew it was wrong, and an invasion of privacy, but he wanted and needed to know what was keeping his friend up every single night.

"What are you...?" Vincent tilted his head in confusion as the Doctor quietly reached to press his fingers on Avalon's temples.

"Sh!" the Doctor quickly cut the painter off.

But right before he could touch her, Avalon's eyes snapped open with a deep gasp. And, for a split second, the Doctor saw a terrible fear in her eyes. "Avalon," he frowned, even more concerned than he already was, "What's wro-" but a scream of Amy's cut him off.

"Amy!?" Avalon jumped out of her chair, nearly knocking the Doctor down, and ran out the doors with Vincent behind her.

The trio found Amy in the yard on her knees, struggling to get. Avalon rushed and helped her up, "What happened?" she asked Amy.

"I was having a look at the paintings out here when something hit me from behind," Amy put a hand on her back, breathing heavily as she tried calming down.

"It's OK. He's gone now and we're here," the Doctor assured her, unaware of the sudden reaction Vincent was having behind him.

"No!" the painter shouted and backed away.

"Take it easy," the Doctor turned, confused, "Take it easy!"

"What's happening? What's he doing?" Avalon watched Vincent grow more and more frantic.

"I don't know," the Doctor was also watching, displeased when the painter grabbed a large wooden fork.

"Why's he grabbing the big fork?" Avalon frowned.

"I don't know..." was all the Doctor could say.

And then Vincent charged towards them.

"But I think I may know why he's coming towards us..." Avalon pulled Amy and the Doctor back as Vincent ran past them.

"Run. Run!" the painter shouted.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's not a bad idea," the Doctor agreed and promptly pushed the two gingers towards the house, "Avalon, Amy, get back. He's having some kind of fit. I'll try to calm him down."

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Avalon asked while Amy ran towards the cottage.

"Nope!" the Doctor shrugged then pushed her as well.

With a roll of the eyes, Avalon hurried to where Amy was at the doorway of the house, turning to watch what she suspected wouldn't be a good spectacle.

"Easy, Vincent, easy. Look, look. It's me, it's me, it's me," the Doctor held his hands

in front of him as he spoke to Vincent, the painter still frantic of something, "It's the Doctor, look. No-one else is here. So, Vincent..."

"Look out!" Vincent pointed.

The Doctor only had time to look over his shoulder before he was thrown to the ground, able to hear a roaring and screams of his companions.

"We can't see anything!" Amy shouted, a nearby painting shred to pieces by the invisible creature.

"What the hell is it?" Avalon looked around at the empty yard.

"That is a good question," the Doctor scrambled up to his feet and snatched a nearby stick to join Vincent who was fighting, "Let me help you."

"You can see him, too?" Vincent blinked.

The Doctor started going off in the opposite direction trying to fight the invisible creature with his stick, "Yes. Ish. Well, no. Not really," however there was more roaring and the Doctor found himself being thrown over a table and landing at Vincent's feet.

Vincent looked down, not too surprised, "You couldn't see him?"

"No," the Doctor frowned and stood up again, "Oi!" he called to the creature. He picked up his stick and started fighting again.

Meanwhile, Vincent was had walked a bit away from him and apparently hurt the creature enough to make it leave. Avalon and Amy looked at each other with a smile of relief. Of course it turned into amusement when they saw the Doctor still fighting off the creature. Vincent slowly backtracked to the gingers and was about to tell the Doctor it was safe when Avalon wagged a finger and took his fork.

She motioned for him and Amy to stay quiet as she walked to where the Doctor was and promptly poked him on the back with the fork, making the man spin around, and upon seeing the fork aimed at him he dropped the stick and raised his arms, "Don't you _ever_ try to get into my head," Avalon warned and threw the fork to the side.

He winced at being caught and sighed, "I'm sorry, I just...I wanted to help."

"I don't need it," she muttered and turned away.

~ 0 ~

Vincent was drawing a sketch of the invisible creature for the group, sadly over a painting of irises. Once done, he held the canvas to the group and allowed them to see a strange, birdlike creature with a beak and talons and even a bit reptilian.

"OK. OK," the Doctor took the sketch from Vincent and studied it for a moment, "Right. Avalon, Amy, make Mr Van Gogh comfortable. Don't let any invisible monsters in through the front door."

"But it could be outside, waiting," Amy reminded.

"Don't worry, I'll risk it. What's the worst that can happen?"

"Well you could get torn into pieces by a monster you can't see," Avalon pointed out while absently studying her nails.

"Still upset I see," the Doctor sighed.

She looked up and shook her head, "Oh no, this time I'm being quite serious. The creature is invisible and doesn't seem too nice so the odds of being ripped to shreds is 99.9%."

"Well as long as you're caring for me," the Doctor smirked and made Avalon smile.

"Like it any other way?" she smirked back after a moment.

Amy raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms and looked between the two with a small smirk, "Did you just flirt?" she'd never been more amused than at that moment when the two went into sputters.

"What!? We-we did n-not...no!" the Doctor shook his head fairly fast.

"I would never!" came Avalon's response as she too shook her head.

And for some reason, the Doctor tool offense to that, "Oh, so you'd never want to flirt with me?"

"Are we really going to argue about _this_?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, stepping forwards.

The Doctor paused and evaluated his words, finding himself blushing, "Good point," he held up Vincent's sketch and faced the other ginger and painter instead, "I'll be back before you can say, "Where's he got to now?" and he quickly ran off.

Avalon turned to Amy with a big frown, "I hate you," she declared.

Before Amy could answer back, the Doctor returned with a purposely loud voice, "Not that fast!" both gingers flinched and turned to him, "But pretty fast. See you around," he waved and left.

And before Amy could even open her mouth, she was smacked on the arm by her ginger friend, "OW!" she turned to Avalon, "Well that was rude."

"I'm not nice," Avalon casually shrugged and moved away to gaze at more paintings.

And so, while they waited for the Doctor to return, the two gingers lounged around Vincent's cottage, the painter having excused himself for sleep. Just because they apparently didn't sleep for a monster didn't mean he had to stay awake. Amy even found herself taking a nap in the meantime. However, she woke up to find Avalon bright and awake in the kitchen.

"Okay, what are you doing?" Amy asked as Avalon poured herself tea into a cup.

"I think it's pretty obvious," Amy gestured to her cup.

"I meant why are you not sleeping?" Amy crossed her arms.

"I could ask you the same question," Avalon countered and walked back to the main room.

"I did take a nap," Amy pointed out as she followed Avalon out, "But I woke up. You, on the other hand, didn't sleep a wink. And I'm pretty sure it's not the first night."

"I just have a lot on my mind," Avalon shrugged and sat down on a chair, "Plus, you know me, I tend not to sleep anyways."

"Right, insomnia," Amy agreed and sat across her, "But even then you still managed to sleep. Now you just look..." Avalon stopped her sipping to look up, Amy debating whether or not she should speak about the bags under Avalon's eyes, not to mention the many, _many_ times Avalon nearly fell asleep in broad daylight during their trips through space.

"Look like what?" Avalon raised an eyebrow.

"Just...really sleepy," Amy shortened the story and nervously smiled.

Avalon sighed and swallowed hard, "There is...something new to my insomnia," she admitted.

"Like what?"

Avalon tapped her fingers on her teacup and swallowed again. She wasn't going to talk about her awful nightmares, but there was something else that had been bothering her lately that she did want to talk about with someone. "My journal," Avalon began as she set her cup on a table nearby.

"What about it?"

"There's a lot of...blank spaces," Avalon sighed, "Pages where I _know_ I've written things but I just can't remember what about."

"How do you know you didn't leave it blank? No offense but that journal is _old_ ," Amy shook her head, "Falling apart, almost. There's bound to be some missing pictures and whatnot. They probably fell out.

"This is something more than just worn out pages," Avalon insisted, "Where I've written there are blank lines and I know they had something but...I don't know what. It's driving me crazy!"

"And making you sleep even less," Amy concluded, "We need to talk to the Doctor about this. Maybe he can-"

"No!" Avalon shouted, startling Amy, "I don't want to give him another reason to want to get into my head. He nearly did that to me tonight and I won't have a second go."

"He's just trying to help," Amy shrugged, "I've noticed you've grown closer with each other lately. He really just wants to help. Why won't you accept it? I mean, you always droned on and on about the Doctor-"

Avalon's snort made Amy wince. "Was _I_ the only one, dear Amy?"

"Alright, we both did," Amy amended and continued on with her point. "You always talked about how he was saving planets and people. You idolized him, you loved him for what he did. Why won't you let him save _you_?"

Avalon leaned against the counter. "I...I'm not used to it. I've always been the one to try and help others - in my own ways of course - when they need me. If I need help, I'd take care of it on my own."

"There's some things you can't take care on your own, Avalon," Amy said, meaning as comfort than a warning.

"Well this one I can," Avalon said with determination. "And I'm asking you as a friend not to mention this to the Doctor, nor to anyone else."

"Fine," Amy sighed. She didn't want to start arguing with Avalon now, but it didn't mean Avalon was off the hook. "But if this starts getting to dangerous roots the deals off," she warned.

"It won't," Avalon assured and then headed for the doors.

"Where are you going?" Amy quickly followed her.

"To get the Doctor back, duh."

"But he said stay here."

"And listen to Vincent Van Gogh snore?" Avalon shook her head, "I did not travel through space and time to hear more snoring. Dad and Gavin do that all the time," she rolled her eyes and walked out, Amy shrugging and going along with it.

~ 0 ~

As it turned out, not much to Avalon's nor Amy's surprise, the Doctor had a bit of another running with the invisible creature while heading out of the TARDIS. He hadn't been too pleased to find both his companions out of Vincent's cottage but was relieved to know the creature hadn't gone after them.

So, they'd returned to Vincent's cottage where Amy had decided to come up with a little surprise for the painter...

The Doctor entered Vincent's room, ignoring the snores of the painter, "Wake, wakey. Rise and shine! Breakfast is served in the courtyard," he headed for the windows and opened them up,"Whoa! What a morning," he clapped his bands and went to get Vincent up, "Come on. And Amy's got a little surprise for you."

Vincent stood at the windows to see his yard coerced in sunflowers, Amy sitting at the table while Avalon poured herself tea.

"I thought I'd brighten things up to thank you for saving me last night," Amy called with a bright smile. I thought you might like, you know, possibly to perhaps paint them or something? Might be a thought."

Avalon quietly scoffed, "Yea, because covering the man's yard with sunflowers was very suttle," she smirked.

"Shush," the Doctor scolded as he joined them in the yard, Vincent sill up in the room looking at the sunflowers.

"They're not my favorite flower, actually," Vincent was saying to Amy as he studied one close to the window.

That made the trio look up, stunned, "You don't like sunflowers?" Amy was the one to ask.

"No, it's not that I don't like them. I find them complex. Always somewhere between living and dying. Half-human as they turn to the sun. A little disgusting. But, you know, they are a challenge."

"I like poppies," Avalon casually remarked, making the Doctor stiffen, that had been Lena's favorite flowers, "The bright red ones," Avalon continued, "Because, you know..." she poked her hair, making Amy and Vincent laugh, "...it matches."

"And one I'm pretty sure you will rise to," the Doctor nodded, "But, moving on, there's something I need to show you."

The trio went back into the house, Vincent joining behind them, and watched the Doctor pick up a paper, a printout of the actual creature, and held it to Vincent. Upon seeing the picture, Vincent fell back on his chair, amazed that it was actually _real_ and not just a figment of his imagination, "That's him. And the eyes. Without mercy."

"This is a creature called the Krafayis," the Doctor began, "They travel in space, they travel as a pack. Scavenging across the universe. Sometimes one of them gets left behind and because they are a brutal race, the others never come back. So, dotted all around the universe are individual, utterly merciless, utterly abandoned Krafayis. And what they do is... Well, kill, until they're killed. Which they usually aren't. Because other creatures can't see them."

"But I can," Vincent looked up.

"Yes. And that's why we are in a unique position today, my friend, to end this reign of terror. So, feeling like painting the church today?"

"Doctor, you may want to explain the reason behind painting church," Avalon sighed as she looked at the confused painter.

"Oh, right," the Doctor caught on and went ahead explain, "Take my word for it Vincent, if you paint the church, the creature will come."

Vincent nodded and stood up, "OK. I'll get my things."

"In your own time. I promise you, we'll be out of your hair by this time tomorrow," the Doctor took his place on the chair as Vincent headed for the doorway, not seeing the hesitation the painter had upon hearing those words. After he finally left, the Doctor let out a sigh, "This is risky."

"Riskier than normal?" Avalon pointed out, "Your life doesn't exactly scream 'safe and sound'."

He rolled his eyes and stood up, glancing back to see if Vincent was still around, "Well, think about it. This is the middle of Vincent Van Gogh's greatest year of painting. If we're not careful, the result of our trip could be the brutal murder of the greatest artist who ever lived. Half the pictures on the wall of the Musee D'Orsay will disappear. And it will be our fault."

~ 0 ~

"Vincent? Vincent!" the Doctor knocked on Vincent's bedroom door.

They'd been waiting for Vincent for quite a while and so the Doctor offered to go and make sure everything was alright. Unfortunately, he saw things were so _not_ right. Vincent laid faced-down on his bed, crying.

"Vincent, can I help?" the Doctor slowly approached the man.

"It's so clear you cannot help. And when you leave, and everyone always leaves, I will be left once more with an empty heart and no hope," Vincent rolled back to look at the Doctor.

"My experience is that there is, you know, surprisingly, always hope."

"Then your experience is incomplete," Vincent snapped, "I know how it will end, and it will not end well."

"Come on," the Doctor insisted and clapped Vincent's back, "Come out, let's go outside."

But Vincent exploded into frantic shouts, "Out! You get out. What are you doing here? What are you doing here?"

The Doctor quickly backed away towards the door, "Very well. I'll leave. I'll leave you," and indeed he did leave the sobbing painter, shutting the door behind him.

"What's happening?" Avalon startled him by the stairs, Amy behind her. They'd both heard the shouts coming from the room and decided to go up and see what was happening.

"We're leaving," the Doctor declared as he leaned on the staircase rails, somber, "Everyone knows he's a delicate man. Just months from now he'll...he'll take his own life."

"Don't say that," Amy scowled, "Don't you ever say that."

"C'mon," he ignored them and went down the steps.

"No," Avalon snapped, "I will not leave a man to his death," and before anyone could say more, she quickly entered Vincent's room and shut the door behind her.

"Avalon!" Amy hurried to get her out when the Doctor stopped her, "What are you doing? We can't leave her alone!"

"Just...let's give her a minute," the Doctor offered and looked at the door. He knew that little attitude from Avalon sprouted from her mother's death, and maybe even from Lena's death (even if she couldn't remember it). He had wanted to talk to Avalon about her recent problems with her sleep, theorizing they could also be sprouting from those deaths. He wondered if perhaps Vincent could be the one to help...it was a longshot, but...still possible.

~ 0 ~

"I said get out!" Vincent kept crying to Avalon, the ginger standing beside his bed with her arms crossed, pretty adamant about staying, "I just want to be alone!"

"Well tough, because I have a quite a temper and when I make a decision no man on earth can make me change it," she declared. She grabbed a chair and put it beside the bed, sitting down and staring at Vincent, "I can relate to you, you know."

Vincent scoffed, "I don't need your pity."

"It's not pity," she said quietly, "I can understand your position quite better than anyone else, even the Doctor himself. It's pretty clear that we're not from this...area," she gestured, "I won't be born for centuries more, on another planet. I live in a small town called Leadworth where everyone knows each other, everyone is friends with each other...except with me," her eyes drifted to the side as she forced herself of her past, "My name is Avalon Reynolds and if you say you're friends with me, a lot of people in that town will laugh at you."

Vincent sobered up a bit upon the girl tearing up, "Why?" he decided to ask as he sat up.

"I'm not a nice person," Avalon sighed, "I've been in jail several times for, um, robbery, trespassing, being chaotic..." she let out a small, bitter laugh, "...funny thing is, I can't even recall some of those times. I've been in a cell for so many reasons I'm beginning to forget them."

"You don't look like a criminal," Vincent concluded just by looking at the frilly-like clothes Avalon was dressed in.

Avalon scoffed, "That's the image you get when you first see me. And if you live in Leadworth, you'd be one of those people that would be insulted for believing that of me. When I walk out of my house, a lot of people point at me and go 'that's the girl' or 'that's the Reynolds' girl, the criminal'. I get mocked, I get insulted, I get laughed at without even getting the chance to explain myself," she swallowed hard and closed her eyes to stop her from crying, "No one likes me back home. I'm a criminal, I'm the girl all parents want to keep their children from. I got lucky with Amy and Mels, their parents are dead. Their guardians didn't really care much for their safety. I grew up with nothing except my fairytales, much like you with your paintings," she opened her eyes and looked at the paintings hung on the walls with a smile, "Beautiful paintings."

"Seems like only you and your friends think that of them," Vincent sighed.

"Because they _are_ ," Avalon clarified, "And I get it, I understand how lonely you feel. You step out and it's the same story, you're pointed at, you're laughed and insulted. I get it. There's nothing to hold onto, not even hope. I don't believe in hope," she confessed, finding it unusually easy to say all these things to the painter, never having experienced someone who understood her so well, "I thought I did but when my mother passed away I stopped. There is no belief that can help us, Vincent. I don't believe in deities or Gods of any sort. Because if you do, you just have rules and expectations from everyone and because you're different you still get laughed at," she shook her head, "Don't cling onto hope, Vincent. You want to feel better? Stick with your paintings. Paint your feelings and only believe in that. Believe in how beautiful they are."

"And what do you do, then?" Vincent wondered, taking her words to heart. It really was true, the belief system only served to get insulted by the others.

"I'm a girl, Vincent," she sheepishly smiled, "I cling to my fairytales. I pretend I'm free like, um, I don't know a butterfly," she blushed, "And I look at the worlds written in stories and try to imagine myself there, try to even imagine a new world for me," she looked at him, now fully embarrassed, "I have this journal, and inside of it...I write the world I'd like to live in. I capture everything I can from this world, everything I find genuinely beautiful and I put it down in my journal. It's my escape, my 'paintings'."

"I'm sure they are beautiful creations," Vincent smiled, reaching to take Avalon's hand, "And in it they must capture all the pain and grief you have."

"Yeah, a lot of them include my mum," Avalon nodded, "She ends up being the Queen or the fairy godmother," she chuckled to herself.

But Vincent grew serious, "I am so sorry for your losses."

"Losses?" Avalon stiffened, "What do you mean? I lost my mum, that was it."

"It's alright," Vincent half-smiled and patted her hand, "I thank you for your help, Avalon. It really is nice to talk to someone who seems to understand. People can be cruel, they judge and hurt when they don't understand someone."

"I know," Avalon nodded, sighing, "And I wish I could say it will get better but 'hope' doesn't change people at all. It's done by action. I left my own home, well, the Doctor took me away, thankfully. Perhaps you could move too."

"I don't plan leaving anytime soon," Vincent shook his head, "But I do plan on helping you and your friends with the monster."

"You will?" Avalon beamed.

"You're right, actions help much better than 'hope'. I'm going to take action and help before the monster kills more innocent people."

"Vincent, thank you!" Avalon stood up and hugged the painter, "I'll go tell the others while you get ready!"

"Alright then," Vincent nodded and so Avalon rushed off.

~ 0 ~

The group walked along the village lane, Amy walking beside Vincent on one side with Avalon on his other side, the Doctor walking behind them all carrying a case in his hand.

"I'm sorry you're so sad," Amy said to Vincent while holding his paint case, Avalon holding the canvas.

"But I'm not. Sometimes these moods torture me for weeks, for months. But I'm good now," Vincent nodded, "If Avalon Reynolds and Amy Pond can soldier on, then so can Vincent Van Gogh."

"Okay, you keep saying that but I still don't understand," Avalon shook her head.

"Yeah, I'm not soldiering on," Amy had to agree, "We're fine."

"I hear the songs of your sadness," Vincent sighed, "You've lost people, I think."

"I'm not sad," Amy repeated and looked at Avalon for help, but Avalon was staring ahead, seemingly lost in thoughts now.

"They why are you crying?" she heard Vincent ask.

She quickly put a finger on her hand and felt the tear on her cheek. She quickly looked at Avalon and found the girl also wearing tears on her face.

Vincent just faintly smiled, "It's all right. I understand."

"But I don't," Avalon frowned as she quickly wiped her face, "One more thing I don't understand."

Neither of them saw the Doctor behind with a grim face. While Amy's subconscious seemed to remember Rory, Avalon seemed to be on the brink of remembering, like all her memories of Lena and Rory were on the surface of her mind. It should be impossible and yet here they were; just one more thing that didn't make sense with Avalon Reynolds.

~ 0 ~

After the Doctor had finished explaining the 'plan' (when there really was none) Vincent set up his utensils in front of the church and started painting. They would have to wait for the monster to show up and then the Doctor would apparently deal with it using the case he carried.

But as the time went by...the Doctor grew more...and more...irritating.

Avalon and Amy watched as Vincent finished the outline of the top of the church, the painter beginning to color in the sky. The Doctor paced behind them, rambling away, "I remember watching Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel. Wow! What a whinger. I said to him, "If you're scared of heights, you shouldn't have taken the job. "

"Shh!" Amy cut him off with a finger to her lips.

And that worked...for another hour or so...

Vincent had added more details to his painting, trying his best to ignore the Doctor who was standing right behind him, rambling AGAIN, "And Picasso. What a ghastly old goat. I kept telling him, "Concentrate, Pablo, it's one eye, either side of the face."

"Be quiet," Avalon sighed.

The Doctor huffed and moved to sit away from the group. And so passed about an hour more or so when Vincent was nearly done with the church.

"Is this how time normally passes?" the Doctor whined from his spot on the ground, "Reeeeally slowly. In the right order," he stood up and walked away, "If there's one thing I can't stand, it's an unpunctual alien attack."

"If I didn't know any better I would say you're nervous," Avalon followed him.

"There's something not right and I can't quite put my finger on it,' he mumbled.

"Let's see, there's a painter who's not...quite there, and who's being haunted by an invisible creature only he can see. Yeah there's a lot of things that aren't right here," she crossed her arms.

"There," Vincent cut their conversation short and made them turn back to the church, "He's at the window."

"Where?" the Doctor hurried back.

"There, on the right."

"As I thought. Come on. I'm going in."

"Well, I'm coming, too," Vincent let his painting utensils drop to move to follow the Doctor.

"No," the Doctor quickly stopped him, "You're Vincent Van Gogh. No."

"But you're not armed."

"I am."

"What with?"

"Overconfidence, this," the Doctor tapped his case, "And a small screwdriver. I'm absolutely sorted. Just have to find the right crosactic setting, and stun him with it. Sonic never fails. Anyway, Avalon, Amy, only one thought, one simple instruction - don't follow me under any circumstances."

"I won't," Amy said.

The Doctor looked over at Avalon who innocently looked away, "Avalon?"

"Amy said she wouldn't," Avalon shrugged.

"Avalon I don't have time," the Doctor, in frustration, exclaimed.

"Whatever," Avalon shrugged and motioned for him to go in. The Doctor warningly pointed at her before walking towards the church.

"Will you follow him?" Vincent looked between the two gingers.

"Of course," they both answered.

"I love you," Vincent was looking at Amy.

Avalon laughed, "Before you snog, let's wait for the Doctor to get himself into trouble," she turned to them, "I bet money on this," she announced.

"Five quid?" Amy raised an eyebrow.

"He gets into trouble in less than five minutes," Avalon declared.

"Deal," Amy shook hands with her, both looking back at the church to await the screams.

And in less than five minutes, as predicted by Avalon, they heard the growls of the creature followed by the cries of the Doctor.

Avalon grinned and pointed at Amy, "You owe me!" and she ran off.

"Damn," Amy muttered and quickly ran after her.

"Amy! Avalon!" Vincent ran as well.

~ 0 ~

"Doctor!" Avalon ran into the church, finding the Doctor aiming the screwdriver at air.

"Argh! I thought I told you... Never mind," he shook his head, not even surprised to see Amy catching up, "We'll talk about it later. Quick, in here."

Avalon pulled Amy towards a confessional, cramming into one side while the Doctor hid in the other side. They stayed quiet as they heard the Krafayis moved around the room.

"Absolutely quiet," the Doctor whispered to the women and slid the door over the grill between, "Whoever is breathing like that, breathe quieter!"

"It's Amy," Avalon grumbled.

"I can't help it," Amy defended herself and lifted the curtain on their side, "He's gone past."

"Shh," the Doctor said.

The Krafayis growled and blew the gratting on the ginger's side off, making them scream.

"I think he heard us," the Doctor winced, "Impressive hearing he's got, though."

Avalon winced as another part of the confessional was ripped off, "What's less impressive are our chances of survival," she snapped.

"Hey, are you looking for me, sonny?" Vincent ran into the room with a chair in front of him as a weapon, "Come on. Over here. Because I'm right here waiting for you," as the creature tried to fight him, he looked over to the others, "Come on. Quickly! Get behind me."

As the gingers ran behind Vincent, the Doctor tried using the screwdriver on the creature, "Doing anything?" he asked Vincent who shook his head as a 'no'. They backed away into another part of the church, "Where is he?" the Doctor looked around frantically.

"Where do you think he is, you idiot? Use your head," Vincent snapped.

"Anything?"

"Okay," Avalon pushed the screwdriver down, "I think we've established the fact that screwdrivers are _not_ effective. Maybe it's time for another tactic."

"Like running!" Amy exclaimed.

And so they did manage to split up a little, the Doctor having the usual luck of his to have the creature after him now. Vincent was giving him instructions to avoid the creature's blow, "Duck!" he called and the Doctor went down, "Left!" and then the Doctor was swatted to the side and slammed into a wall, "Oops, right, sorry."

Avalon and Amy went to help the Doctor up while Vincent used his chair to defend them.

"This is no good at all. Run like crazy and regroup," the Doctor suggested as he stood up.

"Oh, come on, in here," Amy led them into another building of the church.

They went into a room and tried closing a large door together, though the Krafayis blocked the way with a leg until Vincent managed to stomp on it and make it jerk it away.

"Right. OK," the Doctor turned on his back as did everyone to keep the door closed, "Here's the plan. Avalon, Amy, Rory, Len-"

"Who?" both gingers looked at him with confusion.

"Sorry, um, Vincent," the Doctor mended.

"What's the plan?" Avalon asked.

"I don't know, actually. But in future, I'm just using this screwdriver for screwing in screws," he quickly put away the screwdriver.

"Best decision of your life," Avalon sighed and earned a mock-glare.

"Give me a second. I'll be back," Vincent said and ran away.

"I suppose we could try talking to him," the Doctor looked back at the door.

"Talking to him?!" Amy blinked.

"Well, yes. Might be interesting to know his side of the story. Yes, though maybe he's not really in the mood for conversation right at this precise moment," the Krafayis growled and banged on the door, "Well, no harm trying. Listen. Listen!" and finally the creature stopped, ''I know you can understand me," he turned to the door, "Even though I know you won't understand why you can understand me. I also know that no-one's talked to you for a pretty long stretch, but please... listen. I also don't belong on this planet. I also am alone. If you trust me, I'm sure we can come to some kind of, you know, understanding. And then, and then, who knows?"

The window across them shattered as the creature found another way in. The trio looked across and watched the objects of the room fly about as the creature moved around.

"Over here, mate!" Vincent returned with a new weapon in his hands, his easel

The trio moved behind the painter, "What's it up to now?" the Doctor asked.

"It's moving round the room. Feeling its way around," Vincent explained as he and the gingers moved behind a sarcophagus.

"What?" the Doctor blinked, now behind a column.

"It's like it's trapped. It's moving round the edges of the room."

"I can't see a thing," Amy shook her head.

"I am really stupid," the Doctor sighed.

"Oh get a grip," Avalon called, "Pick another time to re-evaluate your self-esteem."

"No, I am really stupid and I'm growing old," he shook his head, "Why does it attack, but never eat its victims?" he moved to the sarcophagus, " And why was it abandoned by its pack and left here to die? Why is it feeling its way helplessly around the walls of the room? It can't see, it's blind. That explains why it has such perfect hearing!"

Vincent blinked, "Which unfortunately also explains why it is now turning around and heading straight for us," he stepped forwards and held his easel's sharp ends in front of him as a weapon.

"Vincent. Vincent, what's happening?" the Doctor quickly asked.

"It's charging now. Get back. Get back!"

Vincent ran forwards and impaled the creature with the easel. He held onto the weapon as he was lifted from the air by the creature who was in clear pain and anger. When he let go, he fell to the floor as did t he creature. Vincent sat up and looked at the impaled creature, "He wasn't without mercy at all. He was without sight. I didn't mean that to happen. I only meant to wound it, I never meant to..."

"It's okay," Avalon whispered and helped him up.

The Doctor knelt down beside the body, "He's trying to say something."

"What is it?" Vincent asked.

"I'm having trouble making it out, but I think he's saying, "I'm afraid. I'm afraid," the Doctor patted the poor creature, "There, there. It's OK. You'll be fine. Ssh."

"He was frightened…and he lashed out," Vincent sighed, "Like humans, who lash out when they're frightened. Like the villagers who scream at me. Like the children who throw stones at me."

"Sometimes winning - winning is no fun at all," the Doctor muttered and left the place.

~ 0 ~

The group laid down on a field, Vincent holding Amy's and Avalon's hands, each ginger then holding the Doctor's hands. Vincent gazed up at the dark, starry sky, "Try to see what I see. We are so lucky we are still alive to see this beautiful world. Look at the sky. It's not dark and black and without character. The black is in fact deep blue. And over there, lighter blue. And blowing through the blueness and the blackness, the wind swirling through the air and then, shining, burning, bursting through - the stars! Can you see how they roar their light? Everywhere we look, the complex magic of nature blazes before our eyes."

"I've seen many things, my friend," the Doctor smiled, "But you're right. Nothing quite as wonderful as the things you see."

"I will miss you terribly," Vincent sighed as he looked from the gingers to the alien, knowing that soon they would all be gone again and he would be once more alone.

~ 0 ~

"I only wish I had something of real value to give you," Vincent watched the Doctor hold one of his paintings, Self Portrait with Straw Hat.

The Doctor chucked, "Oh, no, no. I could never accept such an extraordinary gift," he set down the painting on a table.

"Very well. You are not the first to decline the offer," Vincent sighed and held his arms for Amy, "Amy, the blessed, the wonderful," they hugged and Amy kissed his cheek.

"Be good to yourself and be kind to yourself," Amy whispered.

"I'll try my best."

"And maybe give the beard a little trim before you next kiss someone," Amy laughed and rubbed her cheek.

"I will. I will. And if you tire of this Doctor and Avalon, return, And we will have children by the dozen."

"Eek!" Amy laughed again.

"Why would she be tired of me?" Avalon pretended to be irritated, "What are you trying to say, Vincent?"

"Goodbye, Avalon," Vincent held his arms for the next ginger instead of answering.

Avalon playfully rolled her eyes, "Smart move, Vincent," she hugged him.

"Thank you for you words of advice," he pulled away.

"Yeah, I'm not sure if they were the best, but...it's what I've been doing," Avalon shrugged.

Vincent patted her shoulders, "I think it's going to get better for you," he smiled as he looked behind her to the Doctor and Amy. But Avalon just scoffed quietly and moved away so the Doctor could bid goodbye to the painter, "Doctor, my friend," Vincent shook the Doctor's hand, "We have fought monsters together and we have won. On my own, I fear I may not do as well," and the two hugged goodbye.

~ 0 ~

As the trio walked away from Vincent's cottage, the Doctor though of an idea that could perhaps make things just a bit better for their painter friend. When he stopped walking, both Avalon and Amy looked back with confusion.

"What are you doing?" Avalon asked.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he smiled.

"No, that's sort of why I just asked what were you doing."

He rolled his eyes and turned back to hurry to the cottage, calling for Vincent as the women caught up, "Vincent!" the painter poked his head out the window without a shirt and a brush in hand, "Got something I'd like to show you. Maybe just tidy yourself up a bit first."

"What are we doing?" Amy whispered but the Doctor waved her off as they waited for Vincent to come out.

Once the Doctor had brought them all back to modern day Paris, things started to get a little more clear...for everyone but Vincent anyways.

"Where are we?" Vincent asked the moment he stepped out of the TARDIS and no longer saw the alleyway in which the box had been in only a couple minutes ago.

"Paris. 2010 AD. And this is the mighty Musee D'Orsay, home to many of the greatest paintings in history," the Doctor nodded to the museum up ahead.

"Oh, that's wonderful," Vincent nodded but was distracted when two boys passed by with an electronic in hands.

"Ignore that. I've got something more important to show you," the Doctor said and pulled the painter towards the museum, the gingers following alongside them.

~ 0 ~

They led Vincent all the way up to his own exhibition, passing by other great painters where Vincent seemed to be staying behind to look at. Amy and Avalon pulled him by the arms and brought him into his exhibition room. Vincent was stunned to see all his paintings hanging on the walls.

The Doctor noticed Dr. Black lecturing a group nearby and walked up to him, "Dr Black, we met a few days ago. I asked you about the church at Auvers."

Discreetly, the gingers brought Vincent closer to hear the conversation.

"Oh, yes. Glad to be of help. You were nice about my tie," Dr, Black remembered.

"Yes. And today is another cracker if I may say so," the Doctor pointed at the new bow-tie the human wore, "h I just wondered, between you and me, in 100 words, where do you think Van Gogh rates in the history of art?"

"Well, big question. But, to me, Van Gogh is the finest painter of them all," Dr, Black got to thinking more thoroughly, "Certainly, the most popular, great painter of all time, the most beloved. His command of colour, the most magnificent. He transformed the pain of his tormented life into ecstatic beauty. Pain is easy to portray, but to use your passion and pain to portray the ecstasy and joy and magnificence of our world - no-one had ever done it before. Perhaps no-one ever will again. To my mind, that strange, wild man who roamed the fields of Provence was not only the world's greatest artist, but also one of the greatest men who ever lived."

The Doctor's smile faded when he saw Vincent with red eyes and a face stained of tears. He quickly moved back to the them, giving Vincent a hug, "Vincent. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Is it too much?"

"No. They are tears of joy," Vincent left the group to go to Dr. Black, giving him a Gallic kiss and a hug, "Thank you, sir. Thank you."

"You're welcome. You're welcome," Dr. Black nodded as Vincent pulled away.

"Sorry about the beard," Vincent apologized quietly as he returned back to the trio.

~ 0 ~

The TARDIS materialized back on the field of Vincent's time, Vincent stepping out first of the box, "This changes everything. I'll step out tomorrow with my easel on my back a different man. I still can't believe that one of the haystacks was in the museum. How embarrassing."

"It's been a great adventure and a great honor," the Doctor shook Vincent's hand.

"You've turned out to be the first doctor ever actually to make a difference to my life."

"I'm delighted. I won't ever forget you," the Doctor waved and headed back inside the TARDIS.

"And you are sure marriage is out of the question?" Vincent tried again with Amy, making both she and Avalon laugh.

"This time," Amy moved to hug him, "I'm not really the marrying kind."

"So, I lied," Avalon said as Amy pulled away, "Perhaps there can be hope for some people," she hugged Vincent next.

"That would include you too," Vincent said and pulled away.

"Yeah, not for me," Avalon shook his head, "It's completely out of the market for me."

"No, but you _are_ free," he pointed out, "In there," he nodded to the TARDIS, "Free as a bird...or, butterfly," he whispered and made her laugh.

"Goodbye, Vincent," she waved and moved into the TARDIS with Amy, Amy requesting to go back to the gallery for one more look.

~ 0 ~

As soon as the TARDIS materialized back at the museum, Amy running out, heavily excited, "Time can be re-written. I know it can. Come on!"

Avalon shrugged and went to follow her friend, neither noticing the indulgent face the Doctor had behind.

"Oh, the long life of Vincent Van Gogh. There'll be hundreds of new paintings," Amy cheered as she ran up the stairs.

"I'm not sure there will," the Doctor said calmly.

"Come on!" Amy entered the exhibit and looked at the paintings on the walls, finding them to be the same ones and the only ones around.

"We have here the last work of Vincent Van Gogh, who committed suicide at only 37..." Dr. Black's voice carried over as if on cue.

Amy closed her eyes, her excitement gone. Avalon stepped up and gave her a hug, "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"So, you were right," Amy looked back at the Doctor as the hug ended, "No new paintings. We didn't make a difference at all."

"I wouldn't say that," the Doctor shook his head, "The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. Hey," he hugged her, "The good things don't always soften the bad things. But, vice versa - the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant," he ended the hug but held her head, "And we definitely added to his pile of good things."

"I suppose..." Amy smiled a little then noticed Avalon was missing, "...Avalon?" she looked around.

Avalon had gone to the painting of the church and looked back at the call of her name, "Hm? Oh sorry, I was just looking at the difference we made for Vincent," she pointed at the church with a smile, "I think we did good, come and look."

The Doctor took Amy over to the painting and indeed noticed the change they had made to the painting.

"No Krafayis," Amy breathed with joy.

"Exactly," Avalon grinned.

Amy moved away from the pair and walked to the center, noticing something ahead of her, a small alcove displaying two paintings. She started walking towards it without a word. The Doctor saw and pulled Avalon behind.

Amy saw the painting of the 'Still Life: Vase With Twelve Sunflowers' with a small signature on the vase dedicating it to her, "Oh my..." she smiled and looked at the next painting.

"That's not..." Avalon blinked, moving to the painting, "...it can't be," she was looking at the painting of "Still Life:Poppies and Butterflies" which bore a signature dedicating it to her, just like it had been for Amy.

"Seems like other differences had been made," the Doctor remarked as he eyed both paintings.

"I don't like paintings..." Avalon smiled, "...but I do like this one," she stared the poppies.

"Your hair does match them," Amy teased through her tears.

Avalon chuckled, "Says the mother of an ultimate ginge with Vincent Van Gogh," she countered and moved to hug her.

The Doctor watched them with a small smile and suddenly found himself being pulled into the hug by both, "Okay," was all he had to say and hugged them both, hearing their muffled laughter.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Before anyone points out, let's just pretend like Van Gogh's _Vase with Red Poppies_ was painted after he met the trio okay? xD. And what do we think about Avalon's lack of a belief system? I felt so sorry for her writing that bit *tears up*

 **For the Review:**

 **TheBlueRiver** : It does seem that way doesn't it? Just be patient with them okay xD


	13. The Writer

The TARDIS materialized in a modern day city of London, unbeknownst to the trio inside. Avalon hurried up to the doors with a long, shoulder brown bag dangling on her side, "Oh, nope not that fifth moon of whatever," she called and hopped onto the grass.

"It's the fifth moon of Sinda Callista," the Doctor corrected as he headed for the doors.

Avalon scoffed, "You _do_ realize how terrible your piloting skills are, right? I keep telling you that you need to teach me so that I can one day teach that River Song woman."

"The day I do that is the day pigs will fly," he poked his head out and looked around, "Is that a Ryman's?" he blinked.

"I should punch you," Avalon muttered.

However, a blast from inside pushed the Doctor forwards. Avalon stepped to the side and watched him fall to the ground with a small laugh, "That's what you get," she teased.

But the doors of the TARDIS closed and it began dematerializing, signaling Avalon it hadn't been the TARDIS itself pushing him out.

"Amy!" the Doctor shouted as he sat up, "Amy!"

"What's going on?" Avalon frowned and put a hand in the air where the TARDIS had just been in, "Why'd it just...go? Is Amy alright?" she looked down at the Doctor, the man confused as much as she was.

~ 0 ~

"Are you sure this is the house, Amy?" Avalon was asking as she hurried down the street, speaking to her friend through an ear piece the Doctor had come up with earlier to communicate with her in the TARDIS.

"Yes, that's the place," Amy answered, "Now hurry please and get me out of here!"

It seemed like something, nonhuman was preventing the TARDIS to make a proper landing and therefore forced Amy to stay inside. The Doctor had found its origins in a flat owned by a Craig Owens. They'd found an advert in a shop with a note saying to go to that flat, written by Amy apparently. But, the Doctor being himself wanted to go straight to the house and pose as lodgers. Avalon reminded that they needed money and would therefore go to take out some money from her account. And being impatient as usual, he went first to the flat while Avalon went to take out money. She only hoped that he hadn't ruined it just yet.

Avalon knocked on the door of the designated flat and waited for someone to answer. Eventually, a man with brown hair and blue eyes opened up, and by the fave he had Avalon could tell the Doctor had already made his usual impression on humans.

"Hi," Avalon politely smiled, "I'm-"

"Ginger hair," Craig mumbled.

And immediately Avalon went into a fit of irritation, "Is that how that stupid bow-tie, floppy haired man introduced me?"

"And there's the temper," Craig nodded.

Avalon frowned even deeper, "DOCTOR!" she shouted and went inside.

The Doctor casually came out of the living room and smiled, "Avalon, nice of you to make it."

Avalon controlled herself from strangling him right there and then, "You introduced me _how_?"

"Just the basics," the Doctor shrugged, not even realizing how much worse that made it for her.

"You introduced me as the temperamental, ginger haired woman?" Avalon's mouth dropped, not sure whether to feel more anger or be hurt. But if it was true, which she knew it was, why would it 'hurt' to be introduced like that? Lots of people used to do that back in Leadworth. Why was it such a big deal now? And upon coming to an inconclusive answer, she let the entire thing go and simply cleared her throat and turned to Craig, basically starting all over again, "Hi, my name is Avalon Reynolds," she extended her hand and waited for it to be shaken.

"Craig Owens..." the man slowly shook her hand, being cautious not to upset her again.

"Um, I'm with him," Avalon gestured to the Doctor, "Heard about the room...um, we've got money to cover the month," she picked up her purse and took out a paper bag, "Here you go," she handed it to Craig.

"Yeah, but I was explaining to him that...I only just put the advert _today_ ," Craig was eyeing them oddly, probably suspicious which Avalon couldn't blame him for.

"I shop a lot," was her excuse, "Saw the advert myself and told him about it."

"Yes, so...who lives upstairs?" the Doctor had been staring up at the door of the second level. Avalon followed his gaze and found it creepy with the flickering light bulb.

"Just some bloke," Craig answered, still eyeing them.

"What does he look like?" the Doctor asked.

"Normal. He's very quiet," Craig said and soon after they heard a loud bang from upstairs.

"Sure about that?" Avalon raised an eyebrow.

Without another word, the Doctor entered the living room again, much to Craig's irritation as the man seemed to like wandering about in a place that hadn't even been rented to him yet.

"Excuse me!?" Craig went to follow him in.

Avalon sighed and entered the living room afterwards. She saw the Doctor once more looking up and followed it to a corner of the ceiling where a stain was prominently set. "Is that...dry rot?" she guessed, not entirely sure it was even close. Anyone else it may seem like a normal stain, herself included, but knowing that there was something alien in this house was a bit of a cheat.

"Or damp. Or mildew," Craig shrugged.

"Or none of the above," the Doctor mumbled.

"I'll get someone to fix it," Craig waved it off and turned to the pair.

"No, I'll fix it. I'm good at fixing rot," the Doctor began, "Call me the Rotmeister. No, I'm the Doctor, don't call me the Rotmeister..."

"Before you say something more stupid," Avalon turned and looked around, "This is the most beautiful parlor I have ever seen, you're obviously a man of impeccable taste, Craig," she complemented and walked around a bit, "Not many men can manage living on their own and still have a nice house. I mean, the only reason my house was clean was because _I_ cleaned it. My dad is lovely and all but he was not a cleaning man, much less my brother," she rolled her eyes, "So kudos to you, really," she smiled, "Can we stay?"

"You haven't even seen the room," Craig felt the need to point out.

"The room?" the Doctor repeated, not quite there yet.

"He means the room we'd be staying in," Avalon sighed and walked up to Craig, taking charge of the situation, "Can we see it, then?"

"Uh, right," Craig nodded and walked back into the hallway.

"Take us to our room!" the Doctor cheerfully exclaimed. Avalon looked back at him and stared for a moment, "What?" he frowned.

"You are _really_ lucky that box of yours can serve as a home because quite frankly...you stink at being human," she shook her head and led them into the hallway where Craig awaited them by the door of the room they'd be taking.

He unlocked it for them and opened the door to reveal a simple room with a bed in the center, pushed up against the wall, wardrobe pieces set around with a couch chair at the far end. Craig allowed Avalon and the Doctor in first while he explained the details, "Yeah, this is Mark's old room, he owns the place, moved out about a month ago. An uncle he'd never even heard of died and left a load of money."

The Doctor was testing the bed while looking around, "How very convenient. This'll do just right. In fact..." but he stopped when they heard more noise upstairs.

"We'll take it," Avalon said quietly as she looked up.

The Doctor stood up and pulled out his psychic paper, "You'll want to see our credentials," and he started listing each as he swapped the paper from hand to hand behind his back, "There...National Insurance number... NHS number... References..."

"Is that a reference from the Archbishop of Canterbury?" Craig pointed as the Doctor put away the psychic paper.

"I'm his special favorite," the Doctor informed casually and put a finger to his lips, "Are you hungry? I'm hungry."

"I haven't got anything in," Craig said but the Doctor was already halfway out the room.

"Believe me that won't stop him," Avalon shrugged and went after the Doctor.

The Doctor was raiding the fridge and cabinets as if it really were his home, "You've got everything I need for an omelette fines herbes! Pour deux!" he cheered and started to cook, "So who's the girl on the fridge?"

Avalon looked at the fridge and saw a picture of Craig and a blonde, blue-eyed, woman set on the top door.

"My friend. Sophie," Craig said.

"Girlfriend?" Avalon asked.

"A friend who is a girl. There's nothing going on."

Avalon narrowed her eyes with an amused smile, " _Okay_ ," she sarcastically said.

"We met at work about a year ago at the call center," Craig hadn't even noticed the look of Avalon as he was still staring at the picture.

"Oh, really, a communications exchange?" the Doctor mused, "That could be handy."

"Firm's going down though. The bosses are using a totally rubbish business model. I know what they should do, I got a plan all worked out, but I'm just a phone drone, I can't go running in saying I know best," Craig suddenly stopped and stared at the pair, "Why am I telling you this? I don't even know you."

"I've got one of those faces. People never stop blurting out their plans while I'm around," the Doctor shrugged.

"He wishes," Avalon scoffed and went into the fridge, feeling hungry herself but not in the mood for omelettes.

"Right, where's your stuff?" Craig asked.

"Don't worry, it'll materialize, if all goes to plan," the Doctor looked around.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor and Craig sat down in the living room after finishing up their food, Craig surprised by the talent of the Doctor, "Oh, that was incredible! That was absolutely brilliant. Where did you learn to cook?"

"Paris, in the 18th century," the Doctor said without thinking then shook his head, "No, hang on, that's not recent, is it? 17th? No, no, no, 20th. Sorry, I'm not used to doing them in the right order."

"Stop talking before you really ruin it," Avalon joined them holding a bottle of yogurt in her hands, managing to find it all the way back in the fridge.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a bit weird?" Craig had to ask.

"They never really stop," the Doctor shrugged, "Ever been to Paris, Craig?"

"Nah, I can't see the point of Paris. I'm not much of a traveler."

"I can tell from your sofa," the Doctor gestured, Avalon wondering where the hell he was going to take that.

"My sofa?" Craig repeated, confused.

"You're starting to look like it."

"I have half a mind to throw this at you," Avalon sighed as she played with her spoon in her yogurt, "But I'm hungry so I'll settle for this," she whacked the Doctor's arm.

Craig hadn't seemed upset as he was just laughing, "Thanks, mate, that's lovely! No, I like it here," he grew distant as he fondled a bright pink key chain in his hand,

"I'd miss it, I'd miss..."

"Whoever owns those keys, I'm assuming," Avalon stared with amusement as she moved over to sit on the long couch with Craig.

"What?" Craig snapped out of his nearlike trance.

"You're fondling the key chain," the Doctor pointed.

"I'm holding them."

Avalon quietly scoffed, "Right."

"Anyway..." Craig stood up and walked to a table by the entrance of the room to grab some keys, "These are your keys."

"We can stay?" the Doctor stood up and went to take the keys.

"Hooray," Avalon gave a pretend cheer and continued to eat her yogurt on the couch.

"Yeah, you're weird," Craig began but was cut off by Avalon clearing her throat.

" _Him_ ," she pointed at the Doctor without looking back, " _He_ is weird."

Craig chuckled while the Doctor rolled his eyes, "And you can cook, it's good enough for me," Craig continued then held up each key and explained its function, "Right, outdoor, front door, your door."

"Ha-ha! Yes! Me with a key!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"Oh boy, that can't go right," Avalon mumbled to herself.

"And listen, Mark and I, we had an arrangement where if you ever need me out of your hair, just give me a shout, OK?" Craig said quieter to the Doctor, nodding over to Avalon and winking.

The Doctor, not understanding, winked back, "Why would I want that?"

"In case you and your girlfriend want some time alone, I don't know..."

And then they heard Avalon coughing loudly from the couch, "Sorry," she stood up and scarfed down the yogurt in her mouth, "Sorry, we're not…" but she continued to cough. Before she made a further fool of herself, she rose to her feet, "It's not like that," she pointed at Craig and went for the kitchen to throw away her yogurt.

"Is she okay?" Craig asked.

The Doctor, who was also in a fit of blushes, averted the human's eyes and instead focused on the stain on the ceiling, clearing his throat, "I've got the strangest feeling we shouldn't touch it."

"Wasn't planning on it..." Craig looked back at it for a minute, seeing no relevant point of the stain. And when he looked to the Doctor he saw the man was gone. That was odd, then again the Doctor was odd as a person.

~ 0 ~

Avalon was returning to Craig's flat holding her journal in her hands, her long purse hanging on her shoulder. She'd taken a day out with her journal, going through every last page she'd ever written on to see just how many blank spaces there were. It had taken her all day but she'd finally come to the conclusion that she had forgotten something entirely big, something that had messed with her head. She entered the flat and quietly walked to the room designated hers, stopping a moment as she heard Craig speaking to someone over the phone in his room, assuming it was that Sophie woman again. She shook her head and entered her room just as the Doctor was heading out.

"Where are you going?" she asked, confused.

"I've got to go gather things for a makeshift scanner!" he cheered.

"Right, okay," she ignored it and walked further into the room, "Have you talked to Amy yet?"

"She's um...doing alright," the Doctor winced, preferring not to tell her about the TARDIS jolting poor Amy around each time there was a 'time loop' which originated from their upstairs roommate.

"By the way, there was something odd I saw at the park," Avalon let her purse fall on the bed, "People kept repeating themselves, like, um..."

"A time loop," the Doctor sighed.

"Yeah, what...what's that exactly?"

The Doctor pointed up and made Avalon look up, "Lovely gift from our roomie," the Doctor said, "The earpiece protects you from it. Don't take it off."

"I won't," she assured and opened her journal, hearing the Doctor begin to head out again, "Fairy tale man, can we...can we talk for a moment?" she turned to him, her journal still in hands.

"Oh, this is serious," the Doctor noticed the ginger's face. Plus, it seemed like Avalon had taken custom of using her childhood nickname for him as a name for when she was serious or upset.

"Look, I don't know...maybe it's just me...I don't..." she bit her lip, the words were beginning to get strained. She didn't like asking for help, she never asked for help. It was who she was; asking for help meant she couldn't take care of herself and her problems.

"Avalon," the Doctor noticed the severity of what ever was she was trying to say and so closed the door and walked over to her, "It's okay," he cautiously put a hand on her back, "You can tell me."

But Avalon sighed and shook her head, dropping her journal on the bed, "No, I can't. Forget this, forget I ever mentioned, I just..." she closed her eyes and rubbed the side of her head, "I'm tired."

"You are," the Doctor agreed.

He had grown worried to full blown morbidly concerned with her lack of sleep. Insomnia was one thing for humans but Avalon seemed to never want to sleep. He'd was tempted to simply knock her out and force her to sleep but then he would think of the big temper she'd throw after waking up and realizing what he'd done. He was not prepared for that kind of anger.

"I'm just...confused," Avalon mumbled, "There's things that don't make sense and with the lack of sleep I'm probably just making a big deal out of nothing," she pushed her journal and purse to the side.

That was also another possibility, she thought. Amy had also pointed that out and it could very well be true. Avalon couldn't remember the last time she'd gotten decent sleep. The lack of sleep could be making her over think the blank spaces in her journal.

"Look, why don't you lie down for a minute and I don't know...sleep?" the Doctor suggested ever-so-casually.

"Yeah, that...that doesn't sound so bad," Avalon admitted, "But don't you need help gathering the, um...what was it that you were going to get?"

"You leave that to me," the Doctor said and walked her to a side of the bed, "You just sleep, please."

"Okay, I get the memo," Avalon sat down, "I'm slowly losing it. I'll try to sleep, but...please stay out of trouble."

"I will...genuinely, try my best."

Avalon smiled and shook her head, "Please do. I don't want to get a call from the local police station. Although, it will be different being on the receiving end of the call this time," she mused of how odd it would be to be the good person for once.

"Try to get sleep, alright?" the Doctor said as she laid down, "I'll be back..." he trailed off as the ginger had her eyes closed and practically on the verge of sleep.

He sighed and quietly walked to the door, making sure to close it as quietly as possible. He looked up at the door at the top of the staircase while he backed to the entrance door of the flat. He didn't feel very comfortable leaving Avalon on her own, asleep, with the an unknown evil entity. He'd rather she come with him but he would also prefer for her to actually get some sleep. The only thing he could do now was hurry up and get back as fast as possible.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor kept true to his word and returned a mere hour and a half later...with a trolley filled different objects he'd found from random trash bins in the streets. He was being extra careful not to make any noise for Avalon as he entered their room. He closed the door and looked over at Avalon, disappointed to find her fussing in her sleep. By the looks of it, she was having a dream. He left the trolley and started walking for her when he spotted her journal and purse on the floor, probably knocked off by her fuss. He bent down and picked up the opened journal, about to shut it when he noticed empty spaces in the middle of her writing. He made sure not to read any lines for her privacy. He too had books about himself that he never wanted anyone to see and so followed the same expectations with Avalon's journal. He shut it and looked at the cover. It was a dark brown leather bound journal that looked old and tattered. It bore Avalon's initials on lower bottom 'A.H .R.' and was covered in stickers he assumed she'd posted as a child. He smiled only for a moment before Avalon screamed and sat right up, flinching him enough to drop the journal.

"No! No! No! No!" Avalon was in actual sobs as she repeatedly swatted invisible things from her neck, "Get off me!"

The Doctor hurriedly moved on the bed to calm her down, trying to catch her swatting hands as she continued to shout in terror, "Avalon! Avalon it's me!" he tried to say but she was too much in a frantic mode to listen.

"No! No! Get off me! Get off me!" she sobbed with her eyes shut, "Please!"

"AVA!" the Doctor finally shouted in a louder tone that overpowered Avalon's.

She stopped and opened her eyes, breathing rapidly and heavily, and finally took a look around to see where she was again. She was in the flat, yes, she remembered now. She tried to sleep again...and had another nightmare. Again.

"It's okay now," the Doctor whispered, watching her eyes flicker from one thing in the room to another in such fear it actually pained him. Was that...was that normal?

"I'm sorry," her breath hitched as she spoke, "I...I had a dream..."

" _Nightmare_ ," he corrected, "And I'm guessing that's the reason behind your sleepless nights," she nodded and he recalled the other nights she'd appeared in the kitchen with more or less of the appearance she had now, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"N-no," she managed to say.

"I bet another reason you can't sleep is because you've been bottling this up to yourself," he sighed, "You can tell me, I've had plenty experience with nightmares."

"You have?" Avalon sniffled, hating how she must look to the Doctor at the moment. Her face was covered in tears and her hair was (and felt) like a mess. This was not how she ever wanted anyone to see her. She was Avalon, the girl who never cried. What was she doing?

"Yes, I have had terrible nightmares in my life," the Doctor sighed. He never told Avalon nor Amy what exactly happened with the rest of the Time Lords and Gallifrey, only that there'd been a war and they'd lost. He didn't want them to fear him nor look at him any different. He supposed that was probably selfish of him to let them believe he was a good man but...he just couldn't find it in him to actually sit down and tell the gingers what had happened.

"What about?" Avalon asked and wiped some tears off her face.

"Nothing you need to know about right now," the Doctor waved it off, "But you need sleep, Avalon. Now I would really like to know how to help you but I can't do anything unless I know what the problem is. Have some trust in me, Ava. I promise not a word about this will leave my mouth."

Avalon looked at him for a good minute as she pondered what he would think of

her after she told him what kept her up every night.

"Trust in me, Ava," the Doctor insisted.

He knew that nickname was something she used with Rory but after visiting Mary Costa, the name had simply stuck as the name of Avalon's professional debut. He saw it as the moment their relationship has grown into actual friendship.

"It's about Venice..." Avalon suddenly said, her eyes looking down as if in shame.

"What about Venice?"

"It's, um..." she sniffled, "...I can't..." she quickly closed her eyes, "...it's hard to, um..."

"If it's too hard to say, you could just show me," the Doctor suggested as he saw the heavy struggle Avalon was in to even utter a word about her nightmares.

"H-how?" Avalon looked up to see him holding his fingers to motion a telepathic exchange. With a sigh, Avalon she nodded and allowed him to place his fingers on her temples.

"I won't look at anything, just show me your dreams," the Doctor instructed.

"Okay," she swallowed hard and closed her eyes, doing just what he asked.

Immediately, the Doctor saw her nightmare...different moments in which she had been bitten and fed on by the Saturnynes. His hearts broke to see her so terrified and defenseless against them. He'd heard that Avalon never showed fear for the sake of Lena and so always kept it bottled in. He understood how difficult it must have been for Avalon to deal with what happened to her in Venice on her own. But because she never showed an ounce of fear to the others, the fear found another way to express itself: nightmares. And, because she kept the nightmares to herself and never asked for help, the nightmares increased in quantities and in strength.

"Avalon..." the Doctor took back his hands and looked at the ginger before him.

Avalon teared up and started sniffling louder and louder until she couldn't keep it in anymore and burst into sobs, "I was scared! I was really scared!" she clung onto him for a hug.

The Doctor, though startled by the outburst, hugged back. He felt this was probably something she used to do with Rory, and well...since he'd taken him away from her as well...she felt truly alone with no one to talk to. He hugged her back and let her cry all she needed to do in order to start overcoming those nightmares of hers and finally get some needed sleep.

"I'm sorry, Ava," he rubbed her back, "You should have told one of us. We would've helped."

"I didn't want to worry," Avalon tried to say through her sobs.

"Don't try to lie, I saw it, remember? You didn't want to talk about it because 'Avalon Reynolds does not get scared'," the Doctor sighed, "Everyone gets scared, Ava. It's natural, normal. But it stops being normal when you keep it bottled inside," he pulled away and made her look up at him, "Your fear found another way to express itself. Now it's harming you for real."

"Wh-What can I do? Please tell me, I can't take it anymore," she shook her head, "I'm _tired_. Every time I close my eyes I can feel them on my neck," she shivered and swatted her hands over her neck, "They're drinking and I scream over and over and-"

"Sh, sh, sh, it's okay," the Doctor said and pulled her hands from her neck, "It's very simple, actually."

"It is?"

"Yes," the Doctor nodded, "Just talk about it. Admit you were afraid. And I promise you, little by little, those pesky nightmares will fade away."

"I have to talk about it?" Avalon hesitated as she took her hands from his, "I...I can't. It's embarrassing," she mumbled.

The Doctor sighed, he should've guessed she'd feel like that, "Well, then...don't look at me," he offered, "I'll sit here," he moved to the other side of the bed, "And you lay down where you were," he admitted he was a bit surprise to actually see her obeying and taking her place back for sleep, "Okay, um, just...talk, tell me what happened. Tell me how you felt and I'll listen."

"Um..." she stared at the window across her place, "...I was mad cos I was caught sneaking down to the chamber, the one where you'd be coming through. Then I saw Francesco, and I...I don't remember much," she paused as she thought, "...I slapped him. But I can't remember why I did it. I just know that was really, really angry with him...cos he did something."

The Doctor knew that it had to be because of what Francesco had done to Lena. He could vision Avalon angry as hell and slapping the man, triggering his instinct to fight back...and biting her.

"Them I was brought into another chamber and they...they strapped me down to this chair and...I met Rosanna, and we argued...and..." Avalon swallowed hard and shut her eyes.

The Doctor noticed her breathing picking up and gently put a hand on her arm, "It's okay," he whispered, "Deep breath," he instructed.

Avalon took a deep breath and waited a moment more before she felt enough to talk again, "They bit me...both of them, the Saturnynes, they...the fed on me like I was a dinner plate," she sniffled, "I can still feel their hands on my neck...pushing my hair away, and I just..." she quietly cried, her hands clutching the blanket underneath.

The Doctor didn't know how to help her at this point. Should he hug her? But it would be a bit awkward considering she was laying down. But he just didn't like hearing her cry and needed a way to stop her. He reached for a nearby blanket and draped it over Avalon, "I promise you nothing like that will _ever_ happen to you again," he whispered, "And whenever you feel scared, _please_ tell me, or even Amy. You don't have to pretend anymore."

Avalon looked back with red eyes and managed a small smile, "Thank you, fairy tale man."

"I didn't really do much," the Doctor admitted, "Sort of acted like a psychologist."

"Well it's been long since I had a 'psychologist'," she chuckled lightly, "I don't...I don't really have anyone to talk to anymore..." she paused, the Doctor saw confusion spreading on her face the more silent she continued to be, "...I..I don't think I really had anyone to begin with," she mumbled, "My mum, Amy...Mels. But Mum died and then I...no one."

The Doctor found it difficult to look her in the eye and not feel guilty. On his watch he'd let Rory and Lena die, leaving Amy and Avalon alone.

"I was scared," Avalon took a breath and turned back to her side, "I admit it," she closed her eyes, "And it actually...feels better."

"Try some sleep," the Doctor offered, smiling when she pulled the blanket closer to her.

"God I really hope there's no more dreams tonight," she whispered as she closed her eyes.

"Dream yourself up a knight in shinning armor or something to keep the bad people away," the Doctor said and got a laugh from her, "Meanwhile, I'll be as quiet as possible for you."

Before he got up, Avalon reached back and took his hand, "Thank you," she whispered.

The Doctor smiled back, "You're welcome," he surprised her, and himself, by giving her a kiss on the cheek.

She blinked but nonetheless smiled, "Night," she let his hand go and finally decided to try once more to sleep.

~ 0 ~

Craig stood outside the bathroom where he'd been overhearing the Doctor's singing for a couple minutes while showering. Craig thought it was just a quick shower but after about twenty minutes he became impatient and knocked on the door, "Doctor!" he called.

The Doctor stopped his singing, "Hello?!"

"How long are you going to be in there?" Craig called, sighing.

"Oh, sorry, I like a good soak!"

Craig was about to tell him to hurry up when he'd heard a loud banging above, "What the hell was that?"

~ 0 ~

Inside the bathroom, the Doctor poked his head out from the curtain, "What did you say?"

~ 0 ~

"I'm just going to go upstairs, see if he's OK," Craig headed for the stairs.

~ 0 ~

"Sorry?" the Doctor called but received no answer, "What did you say?"

~ 0 ~

Craig was finishing coming up the stairs and went right ahead to knock on the door of the upstairs flat. An elderly man opened up the door by a creak, "Yes? Hello?" he asked.

~ 0 ~

"Craig?" the Doctor called one again and decided to go check what was happening. He grabbed a towel as he got out of the shower but ended up slipping on the floor with a loud thud.

~ 0 ~

"It's me from downstairs. I heard a big bang," Craig was saying to the elder man.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor sat up on the bathroom floor and with soap in his eyes, "No

choice...it's sonicking time," he reached out to grab his screwdriver placed in a toothbrush holder but ended up grabbing a toothbrush due to the soap in the eyes.

~ 0 ~

"Thank you, Craig, but I don't need your help," the elderly man closed the door on Craig.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor hurried ran out the bathroom only for the towel wrapped around his wait to slip to the floor, "Oops!" he quickly picked it up and continued to ran. He reached the stairs and aimed his 'screwdriver' up the stairs, "What happened, what's going on?"

"Is that my toothbrush?" Craig raised an eyebrow as he came down the stairs.

"Correct. You spoke to the man upstairs?" the Doctor stared up at the shut door.

"Yeah."

"What did he look like?"

"More normal than you do at the moment, mate," Craig smiled in amusement, "What are you doing?"

"What is going on!?" they heard Avalon's call as she entered through the hallway. She came in rubbing her eyes and with a big yawn, "Between shouts and..." she yawned again.

"I thought Craig was in trouble," the Doctor winced.

He'd been keeping his word of being as quiet as possible while she slept. Throughout the rest of the night she slept peacefully while he worked on the makeshift device that would help them with the upstairs flatmate. And it looked like she would continue to sleep past the morning so he'd gotten out of the room and closed the door (as quietly as possible) and tried keeping everything around quiet...until he got into the shower.

"And you couldn't have gotten dressed to go and save him?" Avalon tried not to laugh when she'd finally opened her eyes and seen him with the towel and his hair in the worse state ever.

"And with my toothbrush," Craig pointed and headed off to answer a ringing phone in the living room.

"What's going on?" Avalon looked up at the stairs, "Did I miss an attack or something?"

"No, no...suppose not..." the Doctor frowned, "...you should go back to sleep."

"It's past noon," she smiled, "Plus, I want breakfast," she shrugged and moved for the living room when she saw the front door opening.

It was Sophie, coming in with another key. She walked in and lightly gasped when she saw the two, a bit more startled by the Doctor due to his lack of clothing, "Oh...Hello?"

Avalon sighed, "Avalon Reynolds," she waved and entered the living room, "I want breakfast."

She went straight into the kitchen and started raiding the fridge. Knowing men when they said they had nothing it really meant they only had healthy food and didn't actually eat it. She went through that with her father and brother. If there were things like apples and oranges for them there was 'nothing to eat'. She took out a plate and took out a celery stick with a bottle of ranch. Just like she'd guessed, there _were_ things to eat.

"What are you doing?" she sighed when he came over to the fridge and took out a milk carton...to drink from it.

"The better question is what are _you_ doing?" the Doctor moved to her side and grimaced at the celery.

"Breakfast," she snatched the carton from him and placed a glass in front of him.

"Past noon?"

"Shut up," she muttered, "I never sleep past noon. Barely sleep past six in the morning," she shook her head.

"Well I wasn't going to wake you. It looked like you were finally getting well-deserved sleep."

"I did, actually," she smiled as she took a piece of celery and bit into it, "For the first time..."

"Followed my advice, then," he nudged her, turning her smile into confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Dreamed up some sort of savior," he reached for one of her celery sticks.

Avalon started coughed unexpectedly for a second as she gave a small smile, "Yeah, actually...I did," she quickly turned away, "...and it helped."

"Le me guess, Prince Charming?" the Doctor smirked as he bit into the celery, quickly spitting it back out into the sink, "Bad, very bad," he mumbled.

"Um, yeah, yeah...Prince Charming," Avalon rubbed the side of her neck, "Knight in shinning armor," she cleared her throat and looked at him with a smile, "Thanks. For real," she nodded, "I'm not used to this kind of treatment."

"Kind of treatment?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow, "Do you mean you're not used to people treating you kindly? ...cos you're not a 'nice person'?"

Avalon looked at him, "Where did you hear that?"

"Look, I'm going to be honest here..." he looked back at Craig and Sophie, making sure they weren't listening. They seemed to be having a conversation while Craig held the phone, "...I heard what you said to Vincent," he spoke quietly to Avalon.

"You eavesdropped?" Avalon blinked.

"I didn't mean to, but...the voices sort of carried out and I...I heard," the Doctor winced as if he could already feel one of her slaps that were sure to come his way. But instead, Avalon stepped back her head turning to the side as if she were avoiding his look, "Ava, I'm sorry, I...I know how reserved you are with your things," the Doctor sighed, "I promise I won't say anything."

Avalon scoffed quietly, "Oh please, it's nothing no one's new to. At least now you know who you brought into your home," he opened his mouth to remark on his confusion but she continued without noticing, "I don't need the pity, I get that from Amy at times," she shook her head, "Mels is...well...she's the only one that doesn't really care, actually."

"Hold on, I'm not telling you this because I pity you," the Doctor frowned, "I'm telling you this because I'm sorry for what you've been through."

"Isn't that the same?"

"No, it's not. I'm, frankly irritated and upset you've been treated like that for so long," he stepped up to her, "And, I share some of those feelings."

"What? They did that to you too?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Have you met me?" he challenged and she chuckled, "In my home planet, Gallifrey, things were strict. There were rules and laws and I...sort of didn't follow them. Everyone knew who I was, I had an infamous legacy..." he laughed bitterly,

"...the infamous child, actually."

"You understand," Avalon realized.

"Of course I do," he nodded.

"But you weren't a criminal like me..."

"Actually," he didn't want to bring up the manner in which he'd ended a war she didn't even know about yet but perhaps he could mention briefly the object that he used, "...I stole something from my people, and I used it for something bad."

"You don't look like a criminal," she remarked, making him smile.

"I could say the same to you," he shrugged, "But the thing is Avalon, the thing I want you to get from all this is I try to have my hope, to be happy and to have some friends. I'd like for you to try that too."

"I do have friends," she said quietly, "And I am happy..."

"You've known Amy all your life and yet she doesn't even know what your favorite color is, what you want to be in life...you never talk about yourself," he sighed, " _I_ don't even know you that well. And I'm not that big of an idiot to know that you're not truly happy."

"Why do you insist so much on this?" Avalon had to ask as she thought of the many times he'd talk to her like this, about things that she didn't even talk to Amy about, "We have a pending alien flatmate to deal with and your wasting your time with a hopeless case?"

"Because it's _not_ hopeless and I clearly care for you," the Doctor casually shrugged.

"You care for me this much?" Avalon whispered.

"Yes," he answered slowly so she would get it through her head, "With your violent ways, your sarcasm, preppiness-"

"I'm not preppy," she crossed her arms.

"Have you seen what you're wearing?"

Avalon opened her mouth but then looked down at her clothes. She wore a buttoned up, pink and white vertically-striped blouse with a high-collared, yolk-styled neckline. It was sleeveless but had ruffles around the hemlines of each arm. She wore dark blue jeans and brown leather boots with small heels. "Okay so maybe I'm a little preppy..." Avalon reconsidered with a sigh.

The Doctor laughed, "And that's just fine."

"You are one weird alien," she whispered, "But a very helpful one."

"Oh, I've moved up ranks," the Doctor joked and got a laugh from her.

"Don't get too cocky on that, just because you helped one insomniac sleep for the first time doesn't mean anything...ish," she chuckled.

"Oi?" they heard Craig call, "The game is in an hour, remember, Doctor?"

Avalon pulled away and looked at the Doctor suspiciously, "What game is he talking about?"

"Did I forget to mention?" he beamed, "I'm playing football!"

"Oh no..." she whispered and stepped back.

"I'm gonna hit the shower," Craig said and looked over at the pair again, "Doctor, like I said, the spare kit's in the bottom drawer."

"Right," the Doctor nodded, "Best get dressed now."

"Yeah, I'll see you in a bit too," Craig said goodbye to Sophie and hurriedly went for a shower.

Sophie looked around a bit awkwardly as she noticed Avalon silently eating in the kitchen. Avalon then turned to her holding the plate she was eating from, "Celery, Sophie?"

"Um, no thanks," Sophie shook her head.

"So, you don't play or anything?" Avalon walked into the living room and sat down on the couch chair.

"Nah, I just watch," Sophie sat down on the large couch.

"Well, it's not half bad of a date," Avalon smirked as Sophie gasped with a flushed face.

"It's...it's not a date," she quickly shook her head, "Craig and I, we're not..."

"I never said you and Craig," Avalon's smirk widened as Sophie blushed even deeper.

"Oh! U-um, well...um...I, uh..." Sophie looked around in plain embarrassment as she tried figuring out what to say.

"You know," Avalon went on like nothing happened, "People who aren't dating don't usually have two sets of keys to a 'friend's house but yet yours are in your purse," she pointed to Sophie's purse on her lap, "And then Craig had those over there," she then pointed to the table near the threshold, "It's also yours, which he's been holding by the way."

"What's the point of this?" Sophie asked, confused.

Avalon shrugged with a smile, "Nothing, I just guess you must really like it here."

"Um, yeah..."

"It's not bad," Avalon said, "I gotta say back in my house with my dad and brother, they're total slobs at time. If I don't do a regular clean up," she did a whistle, "They are lucky to have me."

"You still go back and clean for them?" Sophie wondered.

"Oh no, they don't even know I'm gone," Avalon shrugged, fogetting for the moment that while for her it was still the night she'd gone off with the Doctor and Amy, for Sophie it looked more like a runaway.

"Don't you think you should've mentioned to your father you decided to go and live with your boyfriend?"

Avalon nearly choked on her celery stick, "Seriously, we're not," she looked at Sophie, "Just friends."

"So you ran away with your 'friend'?" Sophie raised an eyebrow.

"We didn't run away!" Avalon exclaimed and finally scarfed down the rest of her celery stick, "I didn't run away!"

"Then why are you here...?" Sophie asked. She wasn't trying to be rude but it was confusing and a bit odd for two friends to go and rent a room when the logical thing would've been to rent out an entire flat and simply be flatmates like Craig had done with Mark, the anterior flatmate.

"Because we're..." Avalon looked at the ceiling with the spreading stain, "...we're um...you know what, conversation over," she sweetly smiled and stood up, placing the finished plate of celery on the table, "I'm gonna go help my...friend, out," she hurried out of the room.

That conversation probably could've gone better.

~ 0 ~

"No it's not the one with the sticks," Avalon muttered to the Doctor as they followed Craig and Sophie through the park towards the field.

All the way there the Doctor had tried narrowing down what kind of game football was and so had burdened Avalon with all the questions he could think of. While it had been amusing in the beginning for Avalon, she was beginning to grow tired of answering questions that were clearly not relevant to the sport...especially when the Doctor held the football in his _hands_.

One of Craig's teammates, Sean, came over to greet them as soon the group had arrived, "All right, Craig. Soph. All right, mate."

"Hello, I'm Craig's new flatmate," the Doctor shook his hand and gave another Gallic kiss, making Avalon sigh as she'd spoken to him about that habit, "I'm called the Doctor. Oh, and that's Avalon," Avalon gave a nod for a greeting.

"All right, I'm Sean," he smiled, "Where are you strongest?"

"Arms," the Doctor said.

Avalon shook her head, "He meant what position, genius," she mumbled to him.

"Oh, not sure," he shrugged, "The front? The side? Below?"

"Are you any good though?" Sean raised an eyebrow.

The Doctor spun the ball on his fingers and grinned, "Let's find out," he kicked the ball into the field and ran to catch it.

"It'll be a real lottery," she warned and moved to go sit on a nearby bench.

"You don't play either?" Sophie came to sit beside her.

"Um, no...not really," Avalon shook her head and sighed, "As a kid I, um, I actually liked sports but you know how it is. 'Girls don't play sports' and all, never really got to do it."

"I like watching," Sophie admitted and looked out to the field.

"Could only guess why," Avalon mumbled and caught the woman blushing again.

"Has anyone told you you're a bit bold?"

"The cops," Avalon shrugged, "My dad...lots of people," she concluded and got a laugh, "Makes it a bit harder to make some friends, though."

"Ava!" she heard the Doctor calling as he ran towards her, "Apparently, you don't play with this," he held to her his jacket,.

"You don't say," Avalon sarcastically gasped and took the jacket from him.

"You could've said something," the Doctor huffed at her sarcasm.

"I _did_ ," she reminded, growing serious, "But I do recall you saying 'it's cool'."

"It is!"

Avalon rolled her eyes, "Oh go out and play. And please try not to hurt yourself or the other players," the Doctor beamed and ran off.

"Why did you tell him that?" Sophie wondered, "Isn't he good?"

Avalon opened her mouth but let out a nervous laugh and looked at the field, "Oh look, the game's starting," she pointed, "Let's watch."

Sophie thought the ginger was acting weirder than was the normal but agreed and turned to watch the game begin. As the game progressed the Doctor began to show some genuine skills that helped score some goals for Craig's team. As little as she knew about the sport, Avalon found herself actually getting more into the game along with the onlookers. Together, the cheered for the Craig's team, but specifically more the Doctor who scored the winning goal, and most of the others goals. At the end of the game, Sophie went to Craig to congratulate him on their win, though the more Avalon looked at the man the more she thought Craig looked upset for some reason.

"Ava!" Avalon heard the Doctor call to her. She barely had time to react when she was taken into a great, big hug, "We won! I won! Did you see that!?" the Doctor spun her around like crazy.

"Wow! Yes, I did," Avalon laughed as she was set down, actually feeling a blush for his surprise hug, unbeknownst to her the Doctor was also in the same predicament, "Gotta say, I'm surprised."

The Doctor beamed, "Ha! Another win! Impressed yet?"

Avalon laughed, "Lucky streak for you today, I guess," she led him to the group of team players that were gathering around to have some drinks.

"You are so on the team!" Sean immediately said to the Doctor when they joined them, "Next week we've got the Crown and Anchor, we'll annihilate them!"

The Doctor took the words quite literally and moved up to Sean, "No violence, not while I'm around, not today, not ever. I'm the Doctor, the oncoming storm-"

Avalon yanked him back and laughed nervously, "He's just joking," she said to the group and shot a look at the Doctor, "He meant you were totally going to win the next game."

"Oh..." the Doctor blinked and looked back to Sean, "Lovely, what sort of time?"

At that moment, Craig had opened up a can that spilled over, making everyone laugh. However, the action started to repeat itself over and over as a time loop.

Quickly, the Doctor took Avalon away from them and activated the earpieces, "Amy?" he called.

Avalon activated her earpiece in time to hear Amy's scream, 'It's happening again! Worse!'

"What does the scanner say?" the Doctor urgently asked.

"A lot of nines. Is it good that they're nines? Tell me it's good that they're all nines!"

Avalon studied the face the Doctor had and sighed, "Not good, is it?" she asked him.

"No, no, it's...it's good," he tried to say to her and Amy, "Just um, the zigzag plotter, zigzag plotter, Amy," they heard another scream of Amy, "Amy? Are you there?"

"Yes, hello," she finally called, the TARDIS seeming a bit better now.

"Ah, thank heavens. I thought the TARDIS had been flung off into the vortex with you inside it, lost forever."

"You mean that could actually happen!?" Avalon blinked with wide eyes, "That's the sort of things you need to mention!" she whacked his arm.

"You have got to get me out of here!" Amy exclaimed.

"How are the numbers?" the Doctor made her focus on that again, not able to handle two alarmed gingers.

"All fives."

"Fives?" the Doctor looked back at the human group to see them acting normally, "Even better. Still, it means the effect's almost unbelievably powerful and dangerous, but don't worry. Hang on, OK? I've got some rewiring to do."

"Hey! You..."hang on"!"

Avalon scoffed, "Great comeback, Amy."

"Oh...shut up!"

Avalon shook her head and followed the Doctor back to Craig's flat.

~ 0 ~

Avalon entered Craig's flat with her long purse hanging from her shoulder and holding her journal. She went into the hallway just as Craig finished up talking to the Doctor, who was holding a very noticeable orange cone in his arm.

"Hey," she greeted them both, "Anything the problem?"

"Oh no," the Doctor waved her off, "I was just telling Craig he shouldn't mind us. Won't even know we're here."

Craig seemed a bit too happy about the fact but Avalon shrugged it off, "Great!" he exclaimed and started heading off.

The Doctor quickly opened the door for Avalon and pulled her inside before Craig could see what laid inside. Avalon was stunned to see the bed completely gone and replaced with a spinning machine-type-wheel.

"Isn't it a beauty!?" the Doctor gestured.

"It's a machine," Avalon said and hushed him, "You may want to speak quieter before Craig or the flatmate upstairs hears you. And what did Craig want?"

"Ah something about space,"' the Doctor shrugged and went back to work on the device, "Where were you?"

"Oh I went back to the park," Avalon went over to the couch chair and sat down, putting her purse on her lap, "Though I could write again," she sighed and looked down as she skimmed some of the pages.

'Don't seem to happy about it," the Doctor called as he worked, "And I do believe we talked about that."

Avalon let a small escape her lips, "It's not that I'm unhappy, it's just..." she shook her head, "...it's nothing."

"No, c'mon, tell me," he glanced at her with an encouraging nod.

Avalon closed her journal and stared at the cover, "My mum gave me this journal for my fifteenth birthday," she swallowed hard, "Also known as the year she died. So...this is kinda the last thing I have from her," the Doctor stopped working and turned to her as he sensed the importance of her words, "I've been writing in thing for six years and...I've used up all the pages now," she looked up with a sad smile, "I've got no where else to write now."

"Um...it's called buying another journal," the Doctor said, feeling like now _she_ was missing the obvious and she rarely did that.

"Doctor, were you not listening? My _mother_ gave me this journal," Avalon clutched the journal to her chest, "I wanted to be a writer, still do, actually," she whispered, "She gave me the journal so that I could start practicing."

"But after her death it turned more into sentimental value for you," the Doctor started to understand.

"It's silly, I know, but...to buy another journal is like replacing my mother and I don't want to do that," she smiled sadly, "I don't want to start a new journal anymore because then I'd have to stop carrying this one," she waved her journal, "And that would be like that forgetting about my mum."

"So you're just going to stop the writing?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow.

She shrugged, "I guess...I just can't let go of these pages...pictures..." she opened up the front cover and turned it around fo him to see, "See? My mum wrote me a letter and put a picture of us together, I can't buy a new one."

The Doctor smiled as he saw the teenage version of Avalon with her mother, "I understand," he nodded, "But hey," he beamed, confusing Avalon for a second.

"What?"

"I just learned something about you," he gestured, "And I mean something that not even Amy knows about."

"What?"

He laughed at her genuine confusion, "You want to be a writer!"

"Oh," she looked to the side, "What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing!" the Doctor exclaimed, "I'm just happy to know something about you that you've told no one else."

She playfully rolled her eyes, "Oh don't make such a big deal about it. And get back to work," she pointed back to the device he'd left alone.

"Yes, ma'am," he pretended to salute. She laughed and leaned back on the chair, opening her journal to reread some of the pages. The Doctor looked at her for a minute and softly smiled, she actually looked genuinely happy. That was a version of her he hadn't seen just yet and was more than special for him.

~ 0 ~

"Hello," the Doctor poked his head up from behind the couch where Craig and Sophie sat on.

"What?" Craig blinked at the sight of the man.

"Whoops, sorry, don't worry, I wasn't listening, in a world of my own down there," the Doctor quickly said and winced when he heard Avalon shout his name.

"I thought we were over this," she entered the living room, noticing Sophie and Craig, "Sorry, sorry, he's a bit of an idiot when it comes to tools and he thinks I was lying," she looked at the Doctor, "Which I am not!"

"I thought you were going out!" Craig said to both of them, Avalon sensing an irritation in his tone.

"Why would we go out?" she crossed her arms.

"Because I told him we needed...space," Craig answered quietly.

"This is the first time I hear any such statements," Avalon shrugged and walked up to pull the Doctor up to his feet, snatching the screwdriver from his hand, "This-" she held it up to him, "-is a _regular_ screwdriver. No buttons, no nothing. Have you finally gotten it?"

"What's going on?" Sophie looked between the two, finding a bit irrelevant to be talking over a screwdriver.

"They're really on their way out," Craig tried to say.

"No, I don't mind, if you don't mind," Sophie cut in, smiling at the pair unlike Craig.

"I don't mind, why would I mind?"

"Then stay, have a drink with us," Sophie gestured for the pair to move over and take a seat.

"What, do I have to stay now?" the Doctor looked at Avalon who just sighed.

"Do you want to stay?" she countered.

"I don't mind," he shrugged, completely oblivious to the fact he'd ruined a moment between Sophie and Craig.

"Okay then," Sophie once again gestured for them to move over.

"Great," Craig muttered.

Later on would find the Doctor sitting in the couch chair, still with the wires wrapped around his neck. Avalon had brought a chair from the kitchen and place it across the couch as she didn't want to intrude even more on poor Craig's night. They'd started to talk and while the Doctor continued working on the wires, Sophie had taken to talking about them of routine of life and slowly getting more and more upset about it.

"Cos life can seem pointless," she went on, "Work, weekend, work, weekend. And there's six billion people on the planet doing pretty much the same."

"Six billion people? Watching you two at work," the Doctor gave them a small look, "I'm starting to wonder where they all come from."

"What? What do you mean by that?" Sophie became alarmed.

"So that call center," Avalon cut in before the Doctor said something else he shouldn't, "You don't think that's good enough?" Sophie gave a small shrug, "What do you really want to do?"

"Don't laugh. I only ever told Craig about it. I want to work looking after animals. Maybe abroad? I saw this orangutan sanctuary on telly."

"And what's stopping you?"

"She can't, you need loads of qualifications," Craig finally looked down from the ceiling he'd been staring at ever since Avalon and the Doctor had stayed.

"Yeah, true. Plus it's scary, everyone I know lives round here," Sophie gave another shrug, "Craig got offered a job in London, better money, didn't take it."

"What's wrong with staying here? I can't see the point of London," Craig shook his head.

"Well, perhaps that's you, then. Perhaps you'll just have to stay here, secure and a little bit miserable until the day you drop," the Doctor suddenly said, getting the eyes of everyone of horror, "Better than trying and failing, eh?"

"You think I'd fail?" Sophie softly asked, sounding so disappointed it almost made Avalon smack the Doctor for it.

"Everybody's got dreams, Sophie, very few are going to achieve them, so why pretend?" the Doctor grabbed a wine glass he'd been given and took a sip. Although once he tasted it he spat it out quickly into the glass and set it back down, "Perhaps, in the whole universe, a call center is where you should be?"

"Why are you saying that? That's horrible!" Sophie gasped.

"Is it true?"

"Of course it's not true. I'm not staying in a call center all my life, I can do anything I want!" the Doctor stayed silent and only smiled, making Sophie realize she'd

been tricked, "Oh! Yeah! Right!" Sophie fist-bumped the Doctor and chuckled, "Oh my God," she glanced at Craig, "Did you see what he just did?"

"No, what's happening?" Craig, heavily alarmed, looked between her and the Doctor, "Are you going to live with monkeys now?"

"You're good," Avalon complemented the Doctor, feeling a bit guilty she'd actually thought he was meaning every word he'd said to Sophie.

"It's a big old world, Sophie," the Doctor said to her after giving a wink to Avalon, "Work out what's really keeping you here, eh?"

"I don't know. Dunno..." Sophie mumbled and discreetly glanced at Craig.

~ 0 ~

"And you're sure this is going to work?" Avalon stared at the finished device on the bed, now spinning endlessly.

The Doctor stood beside her with overbearing excitement, "Shield's up! Let's scan!" he announced.

"What are you getting?" Amy asked both of them through the earpieces.

"Upstairs," the Doctor looked at a converted digital clock, "No traces of high technology. Totally normal. No no, no, no, it can't be! It's too normal."

"Only for you could too normal be a problem," Avalon scoffed.

"You said I could be lost forever. Just go upstairs," Amy ordered him.

"Without knowing, get myself killed, then you really are lost," the Doctor informed, "If I could just get a look in there... Hold on," he stopped the device from spinning, "Use the data bank, get me the plans of this building - its history, the layout, everything. Meanwhile, I shall recruit a spy," he disactivated the earpieces.

"And when you say 'spy', what exactly do you mean...?" Avalon crossed her arms.

"How do you feel about animals?" he turned to her with a grin.

"Oh no," Avalon dreaded it as she was pulled out of the room towards God knew where.

~ 0 ~

Avalon was pouring more ranch onto her plate when the Doctor suddenly ran into the kitchen holding the tea pot she'd given him for the breakfast they'd prepared for Craig.

"What are you doing?" she grimaced as he stuffed more tea bags into the pot.

"Craig was oh-so-smart to touch the stain!" the Doctor exclaimed as he ran around the kitchen, even taking her celery stick to drop it into the pot.

"Oi! That was mine!" she frowned.

"Going to reverse the poison, bye!" he dashed out.

"Poison?" Avalon ran after him and came into Craig's room where the man laid on his bed, barely conscious and with an odd streak running on his arm, "What happened to him?"

"He touched the stain," the Doctor sighed.

"What, so he's been poisoned?'

"Yes, hence the tea pot," the Doctor gestured to the pot he held.

"I can heal him," Avalon moved up to the bed.

"What? What are you talking about?" the Doctor frowned.

She rolled her eyes, "I'm from New Earth, remember? My family line descends from the livestock you saved, the same one that carries antibodies in their immune system," she smiled and held her hand to her mouth, gently blowing on her palm. The Doctor watched in awe as small little particles emerged from her mouth, the ginger giving one more smile before pressing her hand onto Craig's arm where the poison streak was.

"Is that how that works?" the Doctor mused as he watched the glowing particles take over the streak of the human's arm, "Never seen it in action."

Avalon looked up, "It's through contact of the skin. It can be hands, feet, lips, etc. Though most people prefer the hands," she waved her free hand, "Unless your married."

"That's amazing," the Doctor remarked as he set down the uneeded pot on the bed stand.

"I've got to go to work," Craig hoarsely tried to say.

"On no account. You need rest," the Doctor pointed, "One more."

"It's the planning meeting, it's important."

"You're important. You're going to be fine, Craig," Avalon hushed, "I'm bit rusty on this so it'll take some hours before he'll actually feel better. But the antigens should start taking over again."

The Doctor nodded and led her out of the room.

"Poor Craig, we haven't been making his life easier," Avalon crossed her arms, "Don't you think we should call in to his work so they'll excuse him?"

"Nah, I'll just fill in for him!"

Avalon's eyes widened, "Um...let's not...do that...no..."

"Why not?" he frowned, "I'll be great!" and headed for the doors.

"No! Stop!" she ran after him.

"It'll be fine," he assured.

"It really won't!"

"It will!"

Avalon sighed, "I guess I'll have to go with you or you might get Craig fired," so she followed the Doctor out to the call center where Craig worked.

~ 0 ~

And just as Avalon suspected, things had taken a rather bad turn...for Craig. She was actually surprised to see the Doctor doing GOOD in a human job. He'd managed to do the planning meeting for Craig and get his ideas approved. Even the boss seemed to like the Doctor as he was placed in Craig's seat to manage some customers who were quite rude. Despite knowing barely anything of the job, the Doctor managed to get even more customers for the company which only made the boss like him even more. It was going fine until Craig had come in thinking he'd missed the meeting. Avalon felt guilty the way the poor man was sent back home to 'rest' and especially after he'd blatantly ignored Sophie's request of advice. She'd spoken to Avalon earlier in the day when they first arrived at the center, telling Avalon about a wildlife charity she'd applied for. Though Sophie felt nervous about leaving and so Avalon had advised her to talk to Craig about it, hoping she could give them back the moment she and the Doctor had

taken from them last night. But Craig was too upset to notice what Sophie was saying and had accidentally told her to go ahead and do it.

Avalon had never found herself in such chaos.

She'd talked to the Doctor about it on the way back to Craig's flat, trying to make him see that they were actually ruining Craig's life in literal terms. But the Doctor, being himself, didn't catch it.

They returned back to the flat where the cat they'd brought in last night was just coming down the stairs.

"Have you been upstairs?" the Doctor immediately questioned it.

"You speak 'cat'?" Avalon crossed her arms and laughed when he mimicked a meow as a response to the cat.

"You can do it. Show me what's up there? What's behind that door?" he ignored her and continued talking to the cat, "Try to show me. Ohh, that doesn't make sense! Ever see anyone go up there? Lots of people? Good good. What kind of people? People who never come back down. That's very bad."

Craig opened the door for the living room and stalked towards the Doctor, "I can't take this any more. I want you to go!" he returned into the living room and gave back the bag of money Avalon had given him as rent, "You can have this back an' all."

"What have I done?" the Doctor frowned.

"I told you," Avalon mumbled.

"For a start, talking to a cat," Craig pointed.

"Lots of people talk to cats," the Doctor shrugged and handed the money back to Avalon.

"Everybody loves you, you're better at football than me, and my job, and now Sophie's all "Oh, monkeys, monkeys-"

"Woah, hey, that one was all your fault!" Avalon cut in, "You ignored Sophie when she tried talking to you about it," she crossed her arms, "That one's not the Doctor's fault."

Craig frowned and moved to their bedroom, "Yeah, well, this is his fault!" he opened the door and pointed to the device on the bed, "What the hell is that!?"

The Doctor ran over to the device while Avalon quickly shut the door behind them, "It's art! A statement on modern society," the Doctor exclaimed, ""Ooh, ain't modern society awful?" he stopped the device from spinning.

"Me and you two, it's not gonna work out," Craig declared, "You've been here three days, the three weirdest days of my life."

"Your days will get a lot weirder if we go!"

"I thought it was good weird, but it's not, it's bad weird! I can't do this any more!"

"I can't leave this place," the Doctor stalked up to him, "I'm like you, I can't see the point of anywhere else. Madrid, hah, what a dump! I have to stay."

"No, you don't, you have to leave!"

"I can't go!"

"Arguing isn't going to help," Avalon could not believe she just said that. SHE, the one with the biggest, baddest temper had just said that! What was going on!?

"Right," the Doctor agreed with Avalon and looked at Craig, grimacing as he thought of the oncoming pain, "I'm going to show you something, but ssh, really, ssh! Oh, I am going to regret this. OK, right... First, general background!"

Avalon jumped when the Doctor head-butted Craig, actually hearing the big smacks. However, Craig immediately saw the Doctor's set of past incarnations and his actual identity.

"You're a..." Craig pointed at him.

"Yes," the Doctor groaned as he rubbed his forehead.

"From..." Craig pointed up.

"Sh!"

"You've got a TARDIS!"

"Yes. Ssh!" the Doctor pointed at his face, "Eleventh! Right... OK, specific detail!" he head-butted once more and showed Craig the reasons why he and Avalon were in the flat.

"You saw my ad in the paper shop window," Craig gasped.

"Yes, with this right above it," the Doctor pulled out a note signed by Amy they'd found in the shop of the advert, "Which is odd, because Amy hasn't written it yet. Time travel, it _can_ happen."

"That's a scanner! You used non-technological technology of Lammasteen," Craig moved up to the spinning device.

"You're both so mad," Avalon concluded after the spectacle she just saw.

"Shush," the Doctor pointed at her, making her roll her eyes.

"How's the forehead?" she smirked.

"Never doing that again!" he declared and turned on the earpiece, "Amy!"

"That's Amy Pond!" Craig turned to them.

"Oh, someone's happy they caught up," Avalon smiled.

"Got those plans yet?" the Doctor was asking Amy.

"Still searching for them!"

"I've worked it out with psychic help from a cat."

"Cat?"

"Yes, Amy, he talks to cats now," Avalon shook her head.

"I know he's got a time engine in the flat upstairs," the Doctor cut in before they mocked as was expected, "He's using innocent people to try and launch it. Whenever he does, they get burnt up, hence the stain..."

"From the ceiling?" Craig grimaced.

"Well done, Craig," the Doctor glanced back, "And you, Miss Pond, nearly get thrown off into the Vortex."

"Lovely!" Amy sighed.

They heard a loud crash from above and they could only guess what was going on.

"People are dying up there?" Craig said...only to keep repeating it, "People are dying. People are dying."

"Amy!" the Doctor called as the ginger screamed over the communicator.

"They're being killed!" Craig came out of the time loop.

"Someone's up there so we need to go!" Avalon rushed out of the room with the two following behind.

As they headed up the stairs, Craig stopped and looked at the opened front door to see Sophie's keys in the lock. Avalon and the Doctor noticed them too and ran faster up the stairs.

"It's Sophie. It's Sophie that's dying up there, it's Sophie!" Craig cried and followed them up.

"Doctor! Avalon! Stop!" Amy shouted to them as they arrived at the door of the upstairs flat.

"What is it, Amy?" Avalon asked.

"Are you upstairs?"

"Just going in," the Doctor said.

"But you can't be upstairs!"

"Amy, what the hell are you talking about?" Avalon frowned.

"I've got the plans, you cannot be upstairs, it's a one-storey building. There is no upstairs!"

"Oh..." Avalon and the two men looked down the stairs with nervousness.

Quickly, the Doctor used the screwdriver to entered the 'flat' and came face to face with spaceship room instead, a control panel in the center.

"What?" Craig looked around, dumbfounded.

"What is this?" Avalon stepped further inside.

"The time engine isn't IN the flat, the time engine IS the flat!" the Doctor blinked with surprise, "Someone's attempt to build a TARDIS."

"No, there's always been an upstairs," Craig looked at them surely.

"Has there?" the Doctor challenged, "Think about it!"

"Yes. No. I don't..."

"A perception filter, right?" Avalon turned to the Doctor, "I learned about those, very tricky to spot...cos they can't be spotted. It tricks your memory, like the Angels did."

"Sophie emerged from the other side of the room, screaming as she was forced to walk towards the control panel by energy tendrils.

"Sophie!" Craig shouted and ran towards the woman, the Doctor and Avalon rushing to help.

"Sophie! Oh, my God, Sophie!" Craig grabbed Sophie's hand to keep it from touching a glowing large button on the panel.

"Craig! It's controlling her. It's willing her to touch the activator," the Doctor concluded as he checked the panel with the screwdriver.

"Solutions would be really helpful, then!" Avalon exclaimed.

"Ah! Deadlock seal!" the Doctor stopped with the sonic, meanwhile Sophie's hand had now reached the large button.

"You've got to do something!" Craig said just as Sophie was set free from the panel.

"Wait, why's it let her go?" Avalon blinked, confused, "All that trouble to set her free?"

The Doctor agreed with her and started to look around, grimacing at a dried up skeleton in a corner of the room. He walked to the other side of the panel when suddenly a hologram of a man appeared behind him.

"You will help me," it announced.

The Doctor turned to face the hologram, "Right! Stop! Crashed ship, let's see. Hello, I'm Captain Troy Handsome of International Rescue. Please state the nature of your emergency."

"Really?" Avalon crossed her arms, rolling her eyes at the fake title he'd given himself.

"Sh!" he waved her off as the hologram responded his request.

"The ship has crashed. The crew are dead. A pilot is required."

"You're the emergency crash program. A hologram. You've been luring people up here so you can try them out," the Doctor used the sscrewdriver on the hologram and watched it go through a series of appearance changes.

"You will help me, you will help me, you will help me."

"Craig!" Sophie exclaimed weakly, "Where am I?"

"Hush! Human brains aren't strong enough, they just burn," the Doctor said to the hologram, "You're stupid, aren't you? You just keep trying."

"17 people have been tried. 6,000,400,026 remain."

Sophie stood up now with a bit of irritation, "Seriously, what is going on?"

"Oh, for goodness' sake," the Doctor shook his head, "The top floor of Craig's building is in reality an alien space ship intent on slaughtering the population of this planet."

"In other words now, be quiet!" Avalon shush es the woman.

"The correct pilot has now been found," the hologram said.

The Doctor stiffened, "Yes, I was worried you'd say that."

"He means you, Doctor, doesn't he?" Amy said through the earpiece.

"Why am I not surprised?" Avalon sighed but flinched when the energy tendrils pulled the Doctor towards the panel.

"The correct pilot has been found. The correct pilot has been found."

"What's happening?" Amy cried.

"It's pulling me in! I'm the new pilot!" the Doctor struggled to stay away from the panel.

"Could you do it?" Avalon rushed over to him, "Could you fly the ship safely?"

"No, I'm way too much for this ship. My hand touches that panel, the planet doesn't blow up, the whole solar system does."

"Figures," Avalon sighed and started helping him by pulling with him.

"The correct pilot has been found," the hologram continuously said.

"No...worst choice ever, I promise you," the Doctor looked up, "Stop this!"

"Doctor!" Amy shouted, "It's getting worse."

"It doesn't want everyone," Avalon pointed out and so the Doctor immediately looked at Craig.

"Craig, it didn't want you!" he remembered.

"I spoke to him and he said I couldn't help him," Craig shrugged.

"And it also never wanted Sophie before," Avalon thought, "I don't understand, what's changed?"

"I gave her the idea of leaving!" the Doctor realized the problem, "It's a machine that needs to leave, it wants people who want to escape! And you don't want to leave, Craig, you're Mr Sofa Man. Craig, you can shut down the engine. Put your hand on the panel and concentrate on why you want to stay!"

"Craig, no!" Sophie quickly shook her head.

"Will it work?" Craig looked at the button in doubt.

"Yes!" the Doctor nodded through his pain.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"...Is that a lie?"

"Of course, it's a lie!"

Craig shrugged, "It's good enough for me. Geronimo!" he slammed his hand on to the button and immediately screamed with pain.

The Doctor was set free and ran to Craig's side,Craig, what's keeping you here? Think about everything that makes you want to stay here!" he gave Craig a small slap to get him to focus away from thr pain, "Why don't you want to leave?"

"Sophie! And I don't want to leave Sophie! I can't leave Sophie! I love Sophie!"

Sophie's half widened, "I love you, too, Craig, you idiot!" she slammed her hand over his on the panel.

The ship began smoking and sparking upon the second hand's touch.

"Honestly, do you mean that?" Craig blinked at Sophie.

"Of course I mean it! Do you mean it?"

"I've always meant it. Seriously though, do you mean it?"

"Yes."

"But what about the monkeys?"

"Oh my God," Avalon pressed a hand to her forehead, "Don't turn this into something annoying!"

"Craig, the planet's about to burn! For God's sake, kiss the girl!" the Doctor had to agree Avalon, even Amy shouting the same thing through the earpiece.

Craig and Sophie kissed and we're able to take their hands off the panel. Even the TARDIS was able to calm and finally materialization, leaving a very relieved Amy to call to her friends, "Doctor! Avalon! You've done it. Aha, you've done it! Oh, now the screen's just zeros! Now it's minus ones, minus twos, minus threes...Big yes!"

But the hologram in the ship started changing appearances again, its voice becoming high pitched as it shorted out.

"Big no," the Doctor stepped back towards the doors, pulling Avalon with him.

"Did we switch it off?" Craig questioned, noticing the still worried face the Doctor had even when they'd just shut down the panel.

"Emergency shutdown, it's imploding, everybody out, out, out!" the Doctor tan out with Avalon, the other humans quickly following in suit.

They ran out the house to the next street and watched as the second floor reverted to the ship and then completely disappeared without anyone noticing a thing.

"Look at them," Craig watched people walking by the house, "Didn't they see that? The whole top floor just vanished."

"Perception filter. There never was a top floor," the Doctor reminded them.

~ 0 ~

After cleaning up the mess in the room they rented, Avalon and the Doctor stepped out the room and walked towards the living room to hand back the keys to Craig. Unfortunately, they entered to find Craig and Sophie kissing and so quickly hurried out. The Doctor left the keys on the sideboard and moved to leave when Craig called for them and halted them on their steps.

"What, you're trying to sneak off?" Sophie raised an eyebrow as they joined the pair.

"Yes, well, you were sort of... busy," the Doctor supplied.

Craig picked up the keys and held them to the Doctor, "I want you to keep these. Thank you."

"Thank you," the Doctor took the keys, "Cos I might pop back soon, have another little stay."

"Yeah, in 14 years," Avalon smirked, "Or, if you're really lucky, in 12."

"I said I was sorry!" the Doctor exclaimed with a frown.

He had fully apologized to her and Amy, (and Lena unbeknownst to them) about his tardiness. Unfortunately, it had turned into a more joking matter for Avalon in which she used it to tease him and and irritate him. He supposed he should just be content with the fact Avalon wasn't angry about the 14 years. But, it wasn't fun being teased!

Avalon laughed at his comical expressions and turned back to the others, "Now then. 6,000,400,026 people in the world. That's the number to beat."

"Yeah," Sophie chuckled, "That's what my friend Lena tells me."

Avalon stiffened and blinked, "Wh-What did you say?"

"We'll just be going now, bye," the Doctor waved and hurried out the door with Avalon.

Avalon continued to ponder on the name she'd heard. It was a nice name, pretty, but she couldn't help but feel like there was more to it than just a pretty name. Was there?

~ 0 ~

The Doctor finished starting up the TARDIS and already had a destination, "Back in time! You need to go to the paper shop, leave that note for us," he pointed at Amy.

"Right little matchmaker, you two turned out to be," Amy laughed as she moved up to the Doctor, "Can't you find me a fella?"

The Doctor had a stethoscope on rhe console and quickly pulled it off when he'd heard something wrong, "Oh, rectifier's playing up again...Hold on," he eyed Avalon sitting on the console chair with her journal open. She'd not shaken off the name Melina just yet and the Doctor feared she could be actually remembering, "Amy, you write the note and I'll change that will," he walked off go another room in the console.

"You got a pen?" Amy called.

"Make sure it's a red pen!"

Amy went over to his jacket hanging on armrest of the chair Avalon was in, "What's the matter with you?" she eyed Avalon while searching for the pen.

"What do you think of the name Lena?" Avalon blurted rather urgently. She was racking her head for any possible connection to it but was coming up with nothing. But Amy hadn't answered as she took out a jewelry box from the Doctor's jacket, leaving her stunned. "Amy?" Avalon asked and looked up to see her holding the box, "What is that?"

Amy gave a small shrug and moved closer to her, opening the box to find an engagement ring inside. Avalon raised her eyebrows as she looked at the beautiful ring inside. With no answer, the two gingers stared at the ring wondering what the Doctor was doing with a ring like that.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

So we finally learn what Avalon was dreaming about - and we'll find out what exactly she dreamed to get rid of the nightmares sometime later I promise! I felt so bad for writing her nightmare arc but everyone has a weakness, right? Thank god the Doctor's here to help her! :)

 **For the review:**

 **CrystalVixen93** : It took a little longer to update but it's here! Hope you liked the new chapter!

* * *

P.S before anyone thinks we're getting to the Pandorica arc, we'll be going into an original chapter first!


	14. Kindled Authors

"Why are we here in boring Montgomery?" Amy did not grow tired of asking even after being in said place for a good hour already. "It's the 1920s for God's sake! We should be in New York!"

Avalon wore a wry smile across her face as the two, along with the Doctor, walked down a street of the small town of Montgomery. "Perhaps the Doctor wanted us to calm down for a while."

"Are you still mad we ruined the Taj Mahal construction?" Amy then questioned the Time Lord who'd been walking on Avalon's other side. "Because we didn't ruin it - we just made them a little late."

"A _little_?" The Doctor stopped to scoff. "Because of you two the Taj Mahal won't be built for another year!"

"Well, maybe they'll come up with even better ideas," Avalon responded with a light shrug of her shoulders, still not understanding the hullabaloo about it. So they accidentally burned the construction plans, big deal.

"No, you two need a quiet space to remember the rules about time travelling," the Doctor was now wagging a finger at both of them.

"And you thought 1920 Montgomery, was the place?" frowned Amy. "That's just rude."

The Doctor smirked and gestured for them to continue walking. He was sure this was going to be a calm place where the two gingers could really think about how much it would cost them the next time they decided to deliberately mess with established moments in time. He took them round the towns square, twice just to mess with them. He was sure one of them was close to snapping and probably smacking him, but he couldn't decide which one would do it first.

"Okay, I want to go to a store before I hurt you," Avalon stopped after he took a seat at a park bench.

 _Avalon wins_ , the Time Lord thought to himself with an inward smirk.

"Take me with you," Amy practically begged as she took another grim look at the townsquare.

"Sorry, he's your responsibility," Avalon gave a wiggling wave of her fingers before rushing away.

"What!? Avalon!" Amy called to no avail, the other ginger had effectively ran off on her own. "Great," Amy huffed and plopped down beside the Doctor, "Now I'm stuck with _you_."

"I could just bring you home, you know," the Doctor frowned at her.

"You know, that threat's getting old."

The Doctor laughed. "If it's still annoying you then it definitely hasn't gotten old yet."

Amy rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, trying to come up with a way to get back at him for bringing them to such a horribly boring place.

~ 0 ~

Avalon had already visited three shops lining one street, all full of various dresses she wished she could have. Unfortunately, having no money on her, she was stuck to just seeing. In the last shop she stepped inside of, she found it was empty save for one young-looking blonde woman who was further down the store. Avalon couldn't see her face as the blonde had her back to Avalon while she looked at one particular outgoing dress. Avalon stopped to examine one dress of pink frocks not too far away from the blonde.

"Idn't it divine? Would you like to try it on?"

Thinking the saleswoman was talking to her, Avalon looked up to politely refuse. However, at the same time, the blonde customer answered.

"I don't know. I might like this green one," the blonde had moved over to a sparkling green dress that was mildly shorter than the other dresses in the store. With one look, Avalon agreed it was more pretty.

But apparently, the saleswoman disagreed as she gave a great big scoff. "Are you sure your mama would let you wear a dress _that_ short?"

Avalon made a face and looked to the side, holding her tongue. She'd forgotten how judgmental this era could be.

The blonde woman, in turn, answered in a tone that implied she was just trying to be nice. "Bless your heart for your concern, but honestly, I'm looking for something a bit more au courant."

The saleswoman rolled her eyes. "That is exactly what Coco Chanel showed in Paris this spring. You can't get more au courant, dear."

 _That's it_ , Avalon sucked in a breath and moved towards the two. "I wouldn't bother with that dress, dear," she said to the blonde. She passed a hand down the green dress with a distasteful look. "You should try New York. They'll have far prettier things that are up to date than these old things," she nodded to the other dresses around them. "I mean these could cough up dust from how old they are."

The saleswoman seemed far offended to speak while the blonde was more surprised yet impressed. Avalon upheld a smug smile that she sent to the saleswoman. "Oh, Lord, look at the time," Avalon gave a mock curtsy and started to leave the shop.

As Avalon ventured to return to the Doctor and Amy, the same blonde customer had rushed out of the shop to find her. "You're not from around here," her voice stopped Avalon in her tracks. When Avalon turned around, she met the blonde studying her from head to toe.

Donning a white blouse tucked underneath an orange, a-lined skirt fit for the era, and a beige-colored hat that hid most of her orange locks, Avalon gave a small nod of agreement. "What gave it away?"

"Your accent - English - but I would have to say it was the way you defended me. Absolutely no one does that in this town."

"And why not?"

"Well everybody knows who I am," the blonde chuckled.

Avalon smiled to herself. Already she identified with the woman and she didn't even know who the woman was. "I don't," she shrugged lightly.

"Of course," the blonde agreed. "I'm Zelda Sayre-" Avalon's eyes widened, "-and everyone wants to avoid me here. Well-" the blonde chuckled as she thought to add," -except the men o' course."

But Avalon was still gaping. It took a mighty amount for her to close her mouth. "Y-y-you're…" for a minute she paused and then once again tried to recompose herself, "...you're, y-you're Z-Zelda…"

"Are you okay, dear-"

"You're Zelda Sayre?" Avalon finally sputtered in one go. "You're _actually_ Zelda Sayre F-" but she stopped herself before she said the woman's future surname.

The blonde, indeed the yet-to-be-famous author, gave a slight bemused chuckle. "Well, who else would I be?" she bobbed her head a bit.

Avalon nervously chuckled as well. "Oh my God…"

 _And here the Doctor thought he would be punishing me_ , thought Avalon as she gazed upon Zelda. Zelda Sayer (later Fitzgerald) was an author who never got the recognition she deserved in her own time, not to mention who died tragically. Avalon loved Zelda's works but never imagined that she would one day actually meet Zelda!

"Dear, are you alright?" Zelda inquired after a moment of silence in which Avalon had done nothing but stare at her.

"Y-Yes!" the ginger anxiously nodded her head. "Sorry, I just…" she chuckled, "It's...it's very nice to meet you, _Zelda_."

"Nice to meet you as well," Zelda smiled widely and now took a moment to study Avalon's appearance. "What exactly is a Brit doing in boring ole Montgomery?"

"U-um...well, a friend thought it'd be a nice quiet place for us to visit," Avalon explained, now wondering where the Doctor was and Amy as well. She would love to introduce them to Zelda.

Zelda had herself a good laugh. "You certainly picked the right place."

"Yes, I'm afraid he did," Avalon could not hide her discontent with the choice of scenary, so much that Zelda laughed again.

"You don't like the quiet place do you?"

"No, not really," Avalon chuckled a little herself. "I'm, uh, what they call adventurous. Although I do like it for some writing muse but-"

"You write?" Zelda's attention had been piqued.

"Well, I like to dabble, but...yes, I suppose I do write."

Zelda unceremoniously snorted, startling Avalon. "Well, it's either you do or you don't," she leaned on one hip and placed a hand over it. "Do you?"

Avalon sighed. "I don't know anymore."

Zela stared at Avalon while the ginger once again got lost in thoughts. She figured there had to be quite some problems running through Avalon's head. Not a lot of woman seemed like the type to be aware their own thoughts. "You want go for a walk?" her question startled Avalon out of her thoughts. "I dunno, a swim?"

The slight widened of eyes Avalon gave off as a response made Zelda laugh again. "I-I don't know, I, uh...I came with friends and-"

"Oh stop," Zelda waved her off with a hand, "Those friends of yours should wonder where you are for a bit, don't you think? Believe me, I can show you how to have fun a lot better than anyone else in this town."

"It's just...I really don't know my way around and-"

"I thought you were a bold one, you know," Zelda once again placed her hands on her hips. "Least that's the vibe you gave off. Are you about to prove me wrong?"

There was something about Zelda's quirk of an eyebrow that made Avalon want to prove herself to the woman. It was also stemming from the fact Avalon knew everything about Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald. "O-okay..."

Zelda's lips thinned into a much more widened smile. "Let's go, then! My friends will love a little Brit." Avalon barely had time to say 'okay' once again before Zelda practically yanked her down a new street. "Wh-when you say friends…" Avalon began but once again was cut off by Zelda who overly cheerfully explained their additional guests.

"Livye and Eleanor are my closest friends here and they will just love to hear what you told the saleswoman back there!" Zelda chuckled at the reminder.

"She was being rude," Avalon scowled. "I hate cocky women. It's why I can barely keep up with them."

"Same here," Zelda gave her a mildly awed look that both of them shared a trait. "Between you and me-" she linked an arm with Avalon, growing a crooked smirk at the same time, "-I get along far better with the men here. They say, I've got the most kissable mouth in town."

Avalon could not help her small laughter. "I think you and I could be good friends, actually."

"There we go," Zelda gave her a light nudge. "You seem like my type too. Say, what's your name again?"

"Avalon," the ginger responded. "Avalon Reynolds."

"Avalon Reynolds," Zelda said the name as if she were testing it out for its status. "Sounds like a rich girl's name - are you loaded? Was coming to this town a punishment or are your friends just that incredibly stupid?"

Avalon laughed again, answering the question with it. "If you were to look at my bag right now you'd find nothing but a journal. I've got no pennies on me, lady. And to answer your second question, one of my friends is an idiot."

"Definitely my type of girl," Zelda said and the two laughed alongside each other again.

~ 0 ~

"Doctor if you don't get me out of here soon I might just kill you," Amy threatened. She was still sitting at the park bench, her head tilted back and eyes screwed shut.

The Time Lord in question was smirking quite proudly beside her. "I take it we learned the lesson?"

"Yes, we learned the bloody lesson!" Amy turned on her seat, clapping her hands to make her plead again. "Please can we just go already? I bet Avalon's already hung herself somewhere."

"If she does I'll take her somewhere even more boring," the Doctor warned and got up. Amy practically jumped from her spot. "But I guess you did learn your lessons. We really need to be careful, alright?" Amy nodded her head quickly, just wanting to get things moving back to the TARDIS. "Alright, let's go find Avalon," the Doctor started walking down the pathway leading the streets where the shops were.

But by the time they had decided this, Avalon was far gone. In fact, she was already in the town's nearest woods that led to the famous lake where people would swim in occasionally.

"You actually said that to old Geller?" one of Zelda's friends, Livye, was awed after hearing Zelda retell them what had occurred in the dress shop.

Avalon gave a nod. "Well, she had it coming."

"Course she did," Zelda agreed in a snap, probably the only one who seemed to agree. Her other friends seemed a lot more timid than this blonde. "Would have said something myself if you hadn't stepped in."

Avalon smiled. "You think so?"

"Honey, I _know_ so _._ "

"And where are you from?" the second friend, Eleanor, inquired.

"U-um…" it took a moment for Avalon to come up with a decent lie. "London. I, uh, I told Zelda here I was just visiting with some friends."

"Nice place you chose, like I said," Zelda smirked.

"And where are your friends?" asked Eleanor again. It was strange to see the woman alone in a place she wasn't supposed to even know.

"They're, uh, somewhere in town…" Avalon answered honestly. "I left them at the town's square actually, wonder if they're still there."

"And do they know you're here-"

"Oh, Eleanor, hush," went Zelda as the three turned to the left in order to enter the lake's area. "She looks grown up enough, I think she can make it on her own."

"I _am_ 21," chuckled Avalon.

"There you have it," Zelda gestured.

The three woman came to a stop once they saw the wooden bridge that overlooked a small part of the lake. As the three native women began rummaging through their bags for their swimswuits, Avalon shuddered a breath and gripped her hand on the strap of her purse.

"You've gone pale," Livye was the first to notice. "Are you alright?"

"Uh, I forgot to mention I can't swim…"

"That's fine," Eleanor smiled softly. "We can teach you. And Zelda said she brought you a swimsuit anyways."

"No, I...I don't want to," Avalon gave a light shake of her head. "I-I can't. I'm sorry."

"What's happened to yah?" Zelda noticed the distinct look of fear on Avalon's face. "Moment ago you were all right."

"It's personal, alright? I'd rather just sit there-" she pointed at the bridge, "-and watch you girls swim."

"Well, if that's what you really want," Zelda continued eyeing the ginger for another moment until her two friends pulled her away to get changed somewhere else.

Meanwhile, Avalon carefully tread towards the wooden bridge she planned to sit on. She just couldn't help remembering her mother, Emmalina, and how she promised to help Avalon swim. Suddenly, Avalon wished she could talk to someone about this feeling...but who could she talk to? She had no one. Amy wouldn't understand, and much less the Doctor. There was no one left.

She carefully took a seat at the edge of the bridge and set her bag on her side. It wasn't long before she was rejoined by the three women. Once Livye took her first dunk - from atop a small hill where the town had put a rope to swing off on - she swam to where Avalon was and asked her to join them.

"I really do not swim," Avalon replied in her politest tone.

"You don't know how? Or you don't wanna?"

"Both," Avalon replied and watched as Eleanor took her turn swinging off the hill. She smiled as the woman made a graceful re-emerging from the water and then waited for Zelda to take her turn.

"Careful Zelda," warned Livye as the blonde had struck a pose before her intended jump. "It's mighty high!"

"Ish kabibble!" cried the blonde with a laugh and did the unexpected, of course not for Avalon. She had stripped off her bathing suit, causing an astounding cry from her two friends.

"Zelda!"

"Zelda, please!"

The two friends were completely shocked that their friend would do such a thing. Avalon too looked away out of embarrassment, but she was no stranger to the myth that Zelda Sayre tended to go into the town's lake without clothes. She chuckled to herself, this was one more thing she could cross off her to-do-list of time traveling.

"What if someone sees?" Eleanor called again while Livye profoundly apologized to Avalon her behalf. "Good gracious!"

By this time, Zelda had already dropped into the lake and laughed fiercely. "It's more fun this way, girls!"

"You're going to scare the poor girl off," Livye gestured with a wet arm to Avalon who was still chuckling from embarrassment.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Avalon raised her hands and struggled to withold her next laugh. "I have a friend, uh, Mels, and she does...things like this too. Crazy things."

"She's used to it then," Zelda bobbed her head victoriously.

"Oh well she's never done this," Avalon clarified but laughed again. "And I hope she never does this too."

The girls laughed and splashed a bit of water Avalon's way.

~ 0 ~

"Doctor, we can't find her. Wouldn't it just be easier to track her down with the TARDIS?" Amy had grown tired of walking in the small town in search of their missing friend.

"She didn't bring a cellphone and I can't exactly pick up her location without a proper connection, can I?" the Doctor tried not to sound as frustrated as he truly was. He _hated_ when Avalon suddenly disappeared to have her own adventures. She didn't understand yet that she wasn't ready to do these sorts of things on her own. Granted part of his tremor now was for something to happen to her like Lena, but he was still very adamant that none of his companions overall pull this sort of thing.

"It's going to get dark soon," Amy gestured to the orange sky above them.

"Which means we better take another look," the Doctor said with a warning look on her. "I'll take the townsquare, you take the residents streets. And _don't_ wander off either."

The wagging finger in her face made Amy feel like a child, and she hated feeling like a child. With narrowed eyes she moved around him and walked down the remainder of the street, cursing Avalon for wasting their time like this.

~ 0 ~

"She _eloped_?" Livye gawked as Zelda finished telling the latest gossip in town. The three women, and Avalon, walked down a street apparently heading home. Zelda and her friends walked in slightly wet clothes with Zelda holding her shoes, leaving her barefoot on the street.

Zelda snorted ungracefully. "Her mama and daddy think she's at her cousin Effy's. They'll be carrying on at 18 Montgomery Street when they find out."

"Whatever possessed Nelly to do such a thing?" Eleanor put a hand over her mouth, amusing Avalon at their lack of understanding.

"True love," she said and captured their attentions.

"Oh honey," Zelda whipped around, putting a hand on her hip. "It was nowhere near true love. It was lust."

"Zelda!" Livye scolded, horrified at her bluntness.

"Oh, come on, y'all saw them at that officer's dance," Zelda rolled her eyes. "They were all hot and bothered. But you know her daddy is never gonna let her marry a Yankee."

"But that won't stop her," Avalon said confidently. "True love prevails."

"What are you? Five?" Zelda laughed. "That girl went for something else, if you know what I mean."

"Zelda!" a car honked as it passed by, full of similar-aged men. "Woo! Zelda!"

Zelda waved a long wave at them. "Greetings, my jellies." The men responded with a couple of wolf calls, much to her delight. "They're sweet, but Montgomery boys are such three minute eggs. I'm tired of their foolishness."

"Well, They're not so bad," Avalon said, eyeing what she could from the men. "They're pretty handsome…"

"Nah, we can do better," Zelda assured.

"You got a suitor from the Queen's land?" Livye curiously inquired.

"No, I don't," Avalon shook her head. "I had someone, but...he sort of broke it off."

"Don't seem too sad over it, though," observed Zelda who then gave her a nudge. "Someone else catch your eye already?"

Avalon's eyes widened and immediately shook her head again, but Zelda was able to catch a bit of her blush. "No, I don't - no!"

"I think you _do_ ," Zelda laughed. The other girls chuckled while Avalon felt a stronger blush taking over. "So anyways, what time are we going to the dance tonight, kiddos?" Zelda's eyebrows quirked upwards, indicating this was most certainly a party she would be attending regardless of the opinions.

"Where is it?" Eleanor inquired.

"Old city hall."

"I can't be there 'til 9:30," Livye replied.

"Oh, my daddy won't let me go to a dance down there," Eleanor said.

Zelda rolled her eyes. "Then don't tell him."

"Zelda, those dances are rough. There's no chaperone, and what if…"

"That's the point, scaredy cat," Zelda made a gesture with her arms. "Avalon, you want to come?"

"Oh, um, I...I don't know," Avalon said and began to notice it was growing darker. "I really should find my friends. They've no idea where I went."

"We can invite them too, c'mon," Zelda nudged her. "I promise you it'll be fun. There's dancing, and liquor, and-"

"You had me at dancing," Avalon chuckled. She knew she wasn't going to get out of this anytime soon, and besides...she kind of wanted to spend a little more time with the would-be-famous writer.

"Great!" Zelda exclaimed. "We'll see you in the park at 9:30, Livy," she warned then bid goodbye to her and Eleanor. "You want to borrow some of my clothes for the party?" she asked once they started down the next street. "Or do you want to go back to your place?"

"Um…" Avalon considered the repercussions of bringing Zelda near the TARDIS and quickly resolved to leave it alone. "If you would let me borrow something…"

Zelda smirked. "I got just the idea for you."

"I'm a bit afraid, honestly," Avalon chuckled. In her distraction, she nearly tripped on a small rock on the street and accidentally dropped her purse. "Oh no!" she gasped and delved down to retrieve her fallen things.

"Here, let me help," Zelda moved over and grabbed what she could, among those being Avalon's journal. "Is this where you do your writing?"

Avalon's eyes widened and quickly took her journal back. "Y-yeah, sort of, um...not so much anymore…"

"How do you mean?" Zelda dumped the other objects she'd picked up back into Avalon's purse.

"Well…" Avalon bit her lip, considering if Zelda was actually the right person to be talking about this. Then again, when would she ever see Zelda again? Or vice versa?

"Avalon?"

Sighing, Avalon began sharing her secret that she had yet to tell even the Doctor completely. "My memory...I think...isn't working like it should be." The two began walking again, slower, as Avalon explained. "See, I'm good with memory, I know everything about my family, my friends, me, everything I love. But lately, my writing has been... _off_ ," she paused, still just as lost as the day she realized this dilemma.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I find myself unable to remember things that...that I _should_ be able to remember straightaway."

"Like what?"

"Well, for starters, who my best friend should be."

"But how could you not remember that?" Zelda frowned. "Everyone knows who their best friend is."

"Exaclty my point. I feel it, Zelda, here," Avalon patted her hand over her chest, "that there is something else going on that I'm not getting. It's affecting my writing, and it's affecting me because I keep feeling like there is something important that I'm supposed to know about...but I just don't know."

"Have you considered talking to a doctor about this?" Zelda asked after a moment of silence. She could tell this was something that was truly bothering Avalon.

Avalon had herself a little chuckle at the irony. "Yeah, yeah I have. Not so sure he'd be able to help…"

"They would know more about that, though," Zelda gave a tilt of her head.

"Maybe," Avalon truly wondered if the Doctor would be able to help. The first time she mentioned this problem he seemed not to know so much about it. Should she really bother him again with this?

"Avalon!?" she suddenly heard her name being called, as did Zelda. Both the ginger and blonde stopped to locate the person, and found a second ginger storming towards them.

"A-Amy," Avalon blinked.

Amy Pond was very crossed at the moment. "Finally I find you! The Doctor and I have gone through the entire town - twice - looking for you! Where've you been?" and then she laid eyes on the bewildered Zelda beside Avalon. "And who's she?" Amy pointed with a thumb.

Avalon cleared her throat and introduced the two to each other. "Zelda, this is one of my friends I'm here in town with: Amy Pond."

"Nice to meet you," Zelda shook hands with Amy.

"And Amy, this is Zelda Sayre," Avalon said, hoping Amy would catch the meaning in the name.

It took a moment but Amy did indeed remember one of Avalon's babbles about a book, something along the line of _Save Me a Waltz_ written by a Zelda Fitzgerald. Of course then that reminded her of Scott Fitzgerald who wrote _The Great Gatsby_ and thus it really sunk in who the blonde was. "Oh my God," Amy's smile was quick tp spread cross her lips.

"Are you from Scotland?" Zelda asked, clueless of the ginger's reaction.

"Yeah, I am, and it's so nice to meet you," Amy laughed. "Avalon you _would_ find her, huh?"

"I didn't plan on it," Avalon coughed awkwardly. "I just mouthed to a saleswoman for being a bitc-a mean person."

Amy knew exactly what that meant. She rolled her eyes. "Of course."

"I was just taking Avalon back to my place to get ready for a party," Zelda began to explain. "Would you like to join us?"

"Party?" Amy asked, still not surprised to hear of the plans.

"Yeah, Zelda's being nice enough to let me borrow some clothes," Avalon said with that look that warned Amy not to ruin for her.

"I would love to join you," Amy responded, crossing her arms. "But, uh, we still got to warn the Doc - John. We have to tell John," she eyed her ginger friend.

" _Or_ -" Avalon raised a finger, "-we could let him figure it out and surprise him there?"

"Oh I like the way you think," Zelda laughed despite not fully understanding.

"Sometimes I do too," Amy admitted.

"If you two didn't have different accents I'd say you were related," Zelda pointed between the two gingers.

"She is nothing like me," Avalon was the first to rebut that statement.

Amy snorted. "Ditto."

~ 0 ~

Meeting the Sayres was overly exciting for Avalon, not so much for Amy, but she kept up her happy facade for her friend. Amy knew this had turned into a much more important trip than the Doctor had planned, and she supposed it served well as a revenge plot against the Time Lord for wanting to punish them.

"I think this would fit well in you," Zelda came out of her closet holding a green frock dress for Amy. The ginger admittedly silently she did not care much for the town's fashion. "Try it on."

"Thanks," Amy said in her best tone and moved for the small divider across the room.

"Avalon, I have something I think you might like. My parents don't know I even bought it," Zelda proudly said while she once again dove into her closet. "But I bet you can wear it better."

Zelda eventually pulled out a tulle, periwinkle blue dress that did seem like it would reach a bit above her ankles. It had three-quarter, see-through sleeves and a layered guaze skirt giving it a flowy look. The crisscrossed lace over the bodice matched the lace pattern over the skirt part as well.

"Wow, that's pretty," Avalon honestly meant it.

"You think?" Zelda crossed her arms after handing the dress to Avalon. "Not too different from your fashion over there in the Queen's land?"

"No," Avalon said for the woman's comfort. "Thank you so much."

Zelda smiled and moved for her mirror to continue fixing herself. She had already changed into a pink dress that was up to a high neckline with mid quarters sleeves.

Amy coughed dramatically as she re-emerged from the divider wearing the borrowed dress. "How do I look?"

"Very nice," Avalon smiled at her friend.

"I bet we could pull your hair up into a nice bun," Zelda theorized the more she looked at Amy through the mirror.

"Not much of a bun girl," remarked Amy with a tiny smile. "Can we leave some of it down?"

"Like some nice strands?"

Amy snapped her fingers. "Exactly!"

"Come on down then," Zelda moved to the side and gestured for Amy to take a seat in front of the vanity desk. "And Avalon I won't even tell you about yours."

Avalon smiled while the other two laughed. Her curls were better left alone. While Zelda attended to Amy's hair, Avalon went behind the divider to get changed.

"Oh I was right, you look better in that than I did," Zelda beamed when Avalon rejoined them at the vanity desk. Avalon chuckled and looked down at herself. They'd been right, the dress reached above her ankles - something that this era frowned upon. "You'll have all the men's eyes on you."

"Oh, she is _not_ not goig to be doing any of that," warned Amy. "Not on my watch. Doctor would kill you."

Avalon smirked while Amy wagged a finger up at her. She did wonder where the Time Lord was at the moment, but she knew he was probably going a little out of his mind trying to find them.

~ 0 ~

"I'm going to kill them!" the Doctor angrily walked into the TARDIS and slammed the door, immediately wincing when the TARDIS gave a harsh hum in return.

He marched down the platform and stairs leading to the console, muttering how bigger of a punishment he was going to set on both of those gingers. The console gave another hum, and for a moment the Doctor was stunned to practically see the box was defending the companions instead of _him_.

"That's betrayal, dear," he frowned at the rotor. "Why do you like them so much, hm? Specifically Avalon. Think I haven't notice the favoritism? What's so special about her?"

Well, that a question he could answer on his own.

He shook his head and began looking up for those gingers. It was a bit of a trick trying to find them without any cellphones to ping for, but in a boring ole town like Montgomery, it shouldn't be too difficult finding two outrageous gingers looking for fun.

"And this time I'm making sure they get a proper punishment," he grumbled and flicked a switch beside him.

~ 0 ~

"Avalon what the hell have we gotten ourselves into?" Amy tugged on Avalon's arm while they followed Zelda into what looked like an old building full of hot and sweaty soldiers waiting to be drafted.

" _Fun_ ," Avalon smirked...until something started in her mind

* * *

" _C'mon, Avalon! We have to go now!" Mel said in an urgent, hushed tone as she led Avalon through the Reynolds' second floor corridor. "Your Dad is asleep already which is the perfect chance to run out to a party."_

" _I know, I know, hold up-" a younger Avalon was practically hopping with one hand clutched in Mel's while the other tried slipping on a heeled shoe._

 _But the moment Mel's foot touched the first step, the hallway lights turned on. "Avalon, where are you going?" a soft voice asked._

* * *

Avalon was frozen on her tracks, the brief memory already slipping just as fast as it had appeared. What was that!? _Who_ was that!? She couldn't remember! Oh my God, why couldn't she remember?

"Well-" Zelda came running back out when she noticed neither Amy nor Avalon had come in with her and Livye, "-are you girls scared now?" she smirked, missing Avalon's frozen face.

"Kind of, yeah, honestly," Amy scratched her hair and peered one more time into the building. "These people look a little...crazy…"

"Fun," promised Zelda. Her eyes flickered to Avalon and shook her by the arm. "Well, c'mon, Avalon, you coming or not?"

Avalon shook herself out of her daze and gave a small nod. "Course we are." Zelda smiled and nodded for them to come in with her.

As Avalon took a step in, Amy gripped her hold on Avalon's arm to keep her back. "Um, Avalon, I'm all for the fun but this just isn't quite my style," she admitted.

Avalon scoffed. "It's just a party, Amy. I've been to loads."

"Yeah, without me, remember? I don't know, maybe we should find the Doctor or something-"

"Nope," Avalon wiggled her arm out of Amy's and strode right into the building. If she couldn't remember her memories, then she would try to forget them all together.

Nervously glancing back to the darkish streets, Amy followed in.

It didn't take long before Avalon found someone to dance with...as well as where to get some alcohol. Amy had danced once or twice but found the music's jazz period didn't suite her. She went to go have a seat on one of the chairs set against the wall overlooking the dance floor. From there she could see how Avalon took one drink after another - even more so than her usual number - and how she took up dances with anyone who asked. What was worse was that Zelda was following in the same steps.

No wonder the two got on well, Amy thought. Sighing, she crossed her arms and resigned to look over her friend.

"I think I need another drink!" Avalon giddly declared, sharing laughs with Zelda and the two men they were dancing with.

Zelda's friend, Livye, had to disagree there. "Maybe we should call it a night-"

"Nonsense," Zelda waved her off.

Avalon blinked however, as a new brief memory came to mind.

* * *

" _Look at you, Avalon, you can barely walk," a male voice scolded as they seemingly walked down a dark street._

 _A younger version of Avalon chuckled, but didn't seem to be paying too much attention. "Thank you for coming to get me...like always…" she sniffed and looked to the side, spotting a garden. "Oh, look at the roses…"_

" _Oh no you don't," the same male voice grabbed her arm. "You need to get home now before you get yourself into more trouble with your Dad."_

 _Avalon giggled as she was pulled away. "Always looking after me Ro-"_

* * *

But the memory stopped there.

"Ro? Ro _who_?" Avalon had stopped dancing all of a sudden to question her memory.

"Hey, what are you doing?" the man in front of her frowned at her sudden stop. "Thought we were dancing here-"

"Shhh," Avalon languidly waved a hand at him. "I'm thinking here…" she turned to the side, slightly wobbling from her level of alcohol intake.

"I didn't come to watch you think," the man, irritated, grasped her by the waist.

"Get your hands off me!" Avalon snapped and tried pushing him away.

Amy quickly saw the quarrel, now with Zelda and Livye trying to help Avalon as well. Amy jumped from her chair and rushed over to give the final help. "Get your hands off her before I punch you!" she threatened and stomped on the man's foot.

The man yelped and, on reflex, let go of Avalon.

"Run," Livye soon ordered and the group of women hurriedly rushed away. However, as they came out of the building, they were all laughing save for Amy.

"You're funny," Avalon told Zelda for some reason, neither woman quite in their five senses. "Amy, isn't she funny?"

"Avalon, we gotta get home already," Amy sighed and reached for Avalon's arm. "The Doctor's probably actually worried now-"

"Who bloody cares what he thinks," Avalon threw her arms in the air, accidentally letting her bag fall to the ground. "I'm trying to forget, can't you see?" she flapped her hands, passing them through her hair.

"Oh, ladies?" they heard a young man call. Zelda turned first and spotted two men also set for the war. "Cigarette?" the two had come up to them, one of them holding a pack of cigarettes.

"We don't smoke," Zelda replied, shaking her head.

Amy scoffed, pretty sure she was lying. She latched a tight hand on Avalon's arm now, refusing to let Avalon go anywhere now that wasn't the TARDIS.

"Come on, Zelda. It's awful late now," Livye said, trying to get Zelda to walk with her. She seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Amy: it was time to go home.

"Why don't you let us walk you ladies home?" one of the men asked them.

"No thanks, we can get on our own," Amy was the first to respond and made sure to leave clear she was talking on behalf of Avalon as well.

"Already?" Avalon frowned at Amy. "I don't want to go yet, I want to party again…"

"No, Avalon, we gotta go, for real," Amy said, bending down to grab Avalon's bag. "The Doctor's-"

"-is _so_ going to get you for this," said the Time Lord himself as he approached the group.

"Damn," muttered Amy as she stood back up.

"Amelia Pond you owe me an explanation for ditching me like that," the Doctor came to stand in front of Amy, eyes momentarily flickering to Avalon. "And you, Avalon Reynolds-"

"Don't bother," Amy raised a hand to stop him. "She's drunk out of her mind. Thanks to Zelda Sayre over there…"

"Excuse me?" the Doctor then peered around the two gingers to see the rest, soon spotting the notorious blonde. "Oooh...of course...Montgomery," he whispered, this time blaming himself.

"Is this your other friend you were talking about Avalon?" Zelda inquired from the ginger who had begun humming to herself. "I'm assuming the idiot, right?"

"Sure is...mind you he'll talk your ears off so I'd suggest covering them up soon as his mouth starts," Avalon put her four fingers over her thumb and proceeded to close and open them to motion of someone talking.

"Oh, okay, so when you're drunk you're even ruder - good to know," the Doctor rolled his eyes and took her other hand, essentially pulling both she and Amy to his side. "Good night, Miss Sayre. I'm taking my friends home now. We have a long trip home."

"Oh, you're leaving already?" Zelda said disappointingly.

"Yes, the trip's tomorrow morning, so we must get going…"

Zelda shrugged. "Oh, alright. Nice to meet you, then," she said to him then gave Avalon and Amy respective hugs. "And anytime you wanna come back, you know where to find me."

"Yes, ma'am," Avalon saluted, making Zelda laugh.

"And maybe next time we'll go lower on the drinks."

"That could work," Avalon nodded and took in a deep breath. "I think I might go to sleep now…"

"That'll be a first," the Doctor shook his head and tugged on her hand to get walking in the other direction. "Honestly, Amy, I sent you to find her and-"

"What? I was just trying to have some fun in the town you sent us to be punished in," Amy snapped. "None of this would've happened if you had just gotten over the Taj Mahal accident."

"The Taj Mahal, Amy! You don't mess with the Taj Mahal!"

"So you say," Amy mumbled.

"I swear both of you give me headaches sometimes…" the Doctor eyed Avalon in-between them, "...some more than others," he added quietly.

They came to the TARDIS that still remained at the townsqaure park. Amy went in first but not before Avalon had demanded her journal bag back. But before Avalon could be led anywhere near the TARDIS she reeled back,

"I'm not going in there," she shook her head.

"Avalon Reynolds if you don't get in that box I will carry you myself," the Doctor threatened.

"But I don't wanna," Avalon pursed her lips together. "Out here is where the memories are…"

"Memories? What memories?" the Doctor forwned, a fraction from declaring this a drunken talk.

"The lost memories," Avalon whispered like it was a huge secret. "I got memories that wanna be locked away forever but I'm not letting them, nope!" she popped the 'p'.

"Avalon, please, this is ridiculous, just get inside already," the Doctor sighed, opening the door for her.

"I SAID NO!" she surprised him by shouting. "Don't you get it!?" she turned around and started on a run.

"Oh, for the love of - AVALON!" the Doctor charged after her, ignoring Amy's call. He caught up easy considering her legs weren't in their regular speed. He held her from behind and warned her not to make another run.

"I want to go back," she snapped, wiggling side to side in an attempt to free herself. "Back to the party!"

"NO!" the Doctor shouted at her. "God, Avalon, look at yourself! You honestly think I'm going to let you get back there so you can get even more drunk and do something stupid!?"

"You don't get it!" she exclaimed and pushed him away from her. She staggered on her own, but pointed a warning finger at him to keep away. "I want to figure it out-" she tapped her head, "-and learn what I've forgotten."

Key words made the Doctor stop in his shouting. She was drunk, but she was still somewhat lusive.

"Lately nothing makes sense-" Avalon staggered even more when she tried to pace, "-in my head. There are holes. Holes where I don't know what happened. People…" she stopped, looking terrified as she thought more, "...in my head...that I can't picture. There's a girl, and there's a boy...and they know me but I don't them…" she blinked, her frustration getting the best of her. Small tears welled in her eyes. "And it's scary. It's scary having holes in your mind. And they're in my journal too. There's holes everywhere, Doctor." She rubbed her hands up her hair, leaving it messy. "They're everywhere…and I don't know what to do with them." She shut her eyes and scrunched her face, whether it was for frustration or to withhold her cries, neither knew. "I don't know...I don't..." she started to rub her hair more aggressively, her frustration clearly winning.

The Doctor looked at her sympathetically. It was, of course, Lena and Rory she was trying to remember. He couldn't quite figure it out but somehow Avalon had managed to retain more against the cracks than Amy. He assumed it was due to her evolved human genes from new Earth. But he never stopped to consider how it would affect her. Having various blank holes in one's mind could make a person lose it. Poor Avalon was going through that.

Her subconscious was trying to remind her of the people she lost, but her brain just couldn't process it. She was torn in two.

"Avalon," he softly called to the woman, walking towards her while she continued mumbling about the blank holes. "Hey, Ava, look at me," he tilted her head to his side, immediately catching the whiff of alcohol. "It's okay, alright?"

"The blank holes, Doctor…" she wearily said, like she was still trying to prove it was real. "They're...they're-"

"You are right, maybe there is stuff you can't remember, but that happens to everyone. Don't torment yourself on what you can't see."

"But they keep trying to come back, I feel it," Avalon promised him, thinking perhaps he wasn't taking her as serious as she was despite her alcoholic condition.

"Then you let them, you let them come back in pieces if they must. Maybe soon, they'll come back in one whole piece."

"You think they could?"

"It's possible, nothing is ever truly forgotten." The Doctor smiled, firmly believing that maybe one day Avalon would be able to remember everything. He didn't know how she might react if that were to happen, but at least she would be able to remember that once upon a time a wonderful woman named Lena and a brave man named Rory had existed and that they both had truly loved her.

"How do you know?" Avalon was more calm so that the Doctor could bring her into the TARDIS.

"Because I'm the fairytale man, don't you know? I know everything," the Doctor smiled at her, making her chuckle.

"Right, your my fairy tale man," she leaned her head on his arm and proceeded to disregard whatever he and Amy started to talk about when they were all in the TARDIS once more.

~ 0 ~

The last thing that Zelda would have imagined was once again seeing Avalon Reynolds in the boring old town of Montgomery. Avalon was with that man who had picked her and Amy up after their dance. That had been over a month ago. Avalon was laughing at whatever the man had just said, the two were moving down the street with cokes in their hands.

"You're an idiot, Doctor. I told you that's _now_ how it ended," Avalon was in the middle of scolding. She took a sip from her coke through her straw and rolled her eyes when the Doctor continued to argue with her. As if she didn't know how FRIENDS had ended. "Monica and Chandler adopted the twins and-"

"I'd recognize that accent anywhere," Zelda made her appearance with a wide smile. She stopped in front of them and looked between the two with a degree of curiosity. "Now what would the little orange Brit be doing back in a place like this?"

Avalon absolutely beamed upon seeing one of her favorite authors. "Zelda! We found you!"

"You were looking for me?" Zelda raised an eyebrow and put one hand on her hip. "I didn't guess that when you're strolling by the park with this gorgeous man - hello," she flashed a smile at the Doctor.

"Don't feed his ego," Avalon mumbled but it was too late.

The Doctor took the compliment with a smirk and promptly adjusted his bow-tie like it would make an even better difference for him. "It's nice to see you again, Miss Sayre."

"I have to be honest, Avalon. I didn't think I'd ever see you again," Zelda looked back at the ginger. "Last month you sort of disappeared in a drunken state. Kinda felt bad it was partly my fault."

"Last month?" Avalon repeated and gawked at the big time jump. She immediately shot the Doctor a look for his mistake. "Hear that, Doctor? A _month_. We're back a month later."

The Doctor apologetically smiled at her. "I got distracted when you asked me to pick shoes. I don't pick shoes, Avalon."

She rolled her eyes again, waving him with a hand, then turned her attention to Zelda who was watching them with a growing smirk. "We meant to be back a lot sooner," Avalon explained with what she could.

"As I have said before, _why_ would you come back to this place?" Zelda gestured to the relatively quiet street around them. "This place could put anyone to sleep."

"I wanted to talk to you again," Avalon said so bluntly that Zelda stopped to consider the honesty behind those words. Avalon chuckled, assuming how odd it must sound for Zelda. "I really liked you, Zelda. And I definitely did not want my last time seeing you to be during a drunken moment."

"Why don't we go take a seat over there?" the Doctor nodded to the park bench. Zelda nodded and proceeded to lead, though she glanced back when she saw the Doctor leaning to Avalon to whisper something.

Amy had warned them that she was not going to waste another day in boring Montgomery so they best be back in an hour. The Doctor wouldn't put it behind Amy to lock them out of the TARDIS. And he wouldn't put it behind the TARDIS to actually aid Amy in that.

"I won't be long," Avalon promised him and handed him her unfinished coke bottle. "Thanks for buying that," she smiled and patted his cheek before joining Zelda at the bench.

The Doctor smiled at her and hoped this would be the proper ending she could use to move on from her breakdown the previous night. He also wanted her to have a moment with one of history's most trouble woman and see if perhaps the two could help each other. Avalon Reynolds and Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald were alike in a couple aspects: both wanted more of their lives but didn't really go about it the right way. Both felt unappreciated when really their work had potential. Granted, the Doctor hadn't seen any pieces of Avalon's work, but he had no doubt she was a spectacular writer.

Plus, maybe Zelda could even inspire Avalon to fully commit to that writing career she clearly wanted.

With those thoughts in mind, the Doctor wandered from the bench to give the two women some time alone.

"How are you doing?" Avalon asked the blonde author-to-be after sitting down together.

"Oh, you know," Zelda carelessly shrugged. "I live the boring life...though I have met this man who..." her dreamy sigh was an indicator that life was finally picking up for her, "He is _all_ right for me."

"Is he from around here?" Avalon had already assumed Zelda was talking about Scott Fitzgerald.

"Nah, well...he's coming back soon," Zelda nodded. "And we're going to have dinner with my family next week. I wish you could meet Scott. He wants to be a writer like you."

"...and like you," Avalon cautiously added.

Zelda paused for a moment, her eyes flickering to the ground. "No, honey. That's not for me."

"I think it is," Avalon nodded and leaned back against the bench. "And you should definitely come up with your own drafts even when everyone says no. Don't listen to them."

Zelda side-glanced Avalon with an odd look in her eyes. "Funny, do you take your own advice? I seem to recall you conflicted over your own thoughts."

"What can I say?" Avalon chuckled and tucked a curl behind her ear. "I rarely listen to people and that includes myself."

"Yeah, but I bet that doesn't apply to that one over there, huh?" Zelda nodded in the direction of the Doctor.

Avalon looked over and saw him talking to a group of kids - God knew where he had spotted them from - while making wild hand gestures. "My God that idiot just won't stop."

"But he's your idiot so it's fine," Zelda didn't miss the double-take Avalon did. "Oh c'mon, honey, you don't need to lie to me. It's quite obvious."

"Whatever you're thinking, it's a big _no_ ," Avalon turned almost as red as her hair. It didn't help when she remembered several of her dreams that, as of late, had been less nightmares and more...knights in shining armor.

Zelda had herself a good laugh when she saw Avalon's mortified face. "What's the matter? I haven't said anything untrue, have I? I know what I see and what I see-"

"-please stop," Avalon shut her eyes for a moment. "He's my friend, someone whose work I really admire." Admiring the Doctor's accomplishments wasn't a bit of an understatement and everyone knew it. She practically idolized him as a kid, and now as an adult - being around him and being a part of his recent accomplishments - made her feel a different way that she couldn't explain.

"He has some lookers," Zelda purposely continued, crossing one leg over another. "I can definitely see some good times there-"

"-oh my God, please stop," Avalon resorted to beg which only made it funnier for Zelda. "And I'll have you know that appearances isn't everything I would look for in a man. And maybe that's something you need to remember too."

Zelda tilted her head, curious of Avalon's words. "How do you mean?"

Avalon sighed and turned on the bench to face Zelda. "Look, I know you have never said this to anyone but I know that you want to write. I know that because...because it's the same thing with me. Actually, the Doctor is the only one who knows and...to my surprise, he actually supports me in that. And I just...I just want you to know that whenever you decide to write, even if it's _years_ from now, and you think no one believes in you, remember me and remember that _I_ support you. I believe that your work is good and you better believe that I'd read it."

Zelda had gone to utter shock at Avalon's words. But even then, she felt _touched_. She had never been spoken by someone who seemed honest and _supportive_. Yes, she had a couple works here and there in her bedroom but if she were to show that to anyone they would just belittle it and laugh at her altogether.

Avalon seemed determined to leave her marking in the future author to be. "Whatever defeats and losses you may come across, remember that Avalon Reynolds thinks you are a brave and talented woman." She knew the media remembered Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald particularly for the scandals and her mental illness, yet her work was so pronounced in the 21st century that Avalon believed Zelda should have some of that same support in her own time.

It was like visiting Van Gogh again, only this time Avalon knew exactly who she was talking to.

"Why are you telling me all this?" Zelda's voice had dropped to a whisper.

"Because..." Avalon smiled sadly, unable to stop thinking of Zelda's tragic ending. "Life is unfair. And because of that, you should give it hell until your last breath. Give it everything you got."

A smile started forming across Zelda's face. "Thank you."

Avalon couldn't help herself and hugged Zelda. "And don't think you've seen the last of me. I'll pop in when you least expect it."

Zelda didn't know what to make of that but she wasn't opposed to seeing this ginger sometime again. "Avalon Reynolds, you are...definitely not boring."

Avalon laughed as she pulled away. "Yeah, I get that a lot." She started getting up from the bench, something the Doctor caught which led them to come back to them. "I have to go. My friend's a bit impatient."

"He seems to be patient for you," Zelda knowingly smiled. "It wouldn't hurt to take some of that advice and use it on yourself, though. Maybe he can remind you of that."

"Ready to go?" the Doctor stopped beside Avalon, picking up on the cheerful atmosphere between the two women.

"You take care of her," Zelda gently tapped the Doctor on the chest. "And if she forgets, I'd like you to remind her that Zelda Sayre thinks she is an amazing, inspirational woman."

Avalon's eyes widened, her heart even skipping a beat. Zelda Sayre thought _she_ was inspirational? The whole reason Avalon loved Zelda's story was because Zelda lived surrounded by people who didn't see her work as something good and yet Zelda kept writing. Even when Zelda was kept in mental institutions, she wrote. Zelda was inspirational and...badly loved. Avalon completely identified herself with Zelda.

It was why she knew that this would not be the last time she saw Zelda ever again.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Yes, this was an original chapter I wrote quite a long time ago. A good chunk of the dialogue in the beginning of the chapter was part of an actual episode of the cancelled show _Z: The Beginning of Everything_ that looked at Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald's life. I was so in love with the show (and heartbroken when it got cancelled) that I ended up doing some research on Zelda and thought she actually resembled Avalon in some ways.

But anyways, what did we think? Avalon is now fully self aware that there are some holes in her memory. That should _not_ be happening, right? Tsk, tsk.

 **For the Reviews:**

 **CrystalVixen93** : Thanks! I hope you liked this chapter too! :)

 **Isabelnecessaryonabicycle** : Ah yes, Mels continues to be brought in. She is Avalon's friend after all! And yesss, I like the slow burn torture so expect that for a while more ;)

 **softthanos:** Even moooooooore here right? .


	15. A Legendary Box

"Vavoom!" the Doctor shouted right as Avalon entered the console room, the poor ginger letting her journal drop over her shoulder with the great jump she took.

"Doctor!" she yelled, frustrated.

The man was too excited and went under the console, or poked his head under and shouted the same thing to Amy who sat on the swing. Avalon rolled her eyes and picked up her journal again, sighing as she walked over to the chair of the console. She opened up her journal and took out a small paper she'd been working on lately.

The name 'Lena' was written all over the paper, in different types of writing.

She didn't understand what was the big deal over a name. And yet there she was, going nearly crazy over it ever since she heard the name from Sophie. She asked Amy, once they'd gotten over the ring, what her thoughts were on the name and even Amy seemed a bit troubled by it. Avalon didn't understand what was going on but she knew _something_ was going on...and she would figure it out.

"I can't believe I've never thought of this before, it's genius," the Doctor ran around the console flicking controls here and there as Amy emerged from underneath the console, "Right! Landed, come on."

"You didn't leave the breaks on," Avalon noted as she hopped of her seat, putting her journal in her bag and leaving it on the chair.

"Where are we?" Amy asked, discreetly putting away the engagement box in her jacket's pocket.

"Planet One, the oldest planet in the universe," the Doctor explained, "There's a cliff of pure diamond and, according to legend, on the cliff there's writing, letters 50 feet high, a message from the dawn of time, and no-one knows what it says, 'cos no-one's ever translated it. Till today."

"What happens today?"

"Us," the Doctor tapped Amy's nose, "The TARDIS can translate anything. All we have to do is open the doors and read the very first words in recorded history."

"I'm surprised you didn't think of that before," Avalon remarked as she passed them to the doors.

She opened them up and stepped out, leaving them opened for the Doctor and Amy. They were in a forest area with a large cliff-face ahead of them. Avalon let out a small laughter when they read the words 'Hello Sweetie' on the cliff-face with other symbols underneath it.

Even Amy laughed as the Doctor looked less than pleased, "Vavoom!" she nudged and returned to the TARDIS.

"This oughta be good," Avalon smirked and hurried back into the TARDIS, leaving a frustrated Doctor to follow.

~ 0 ~

The TARDIS materialized in a small cliff after leaving the other planet. Avalon walked out first and looked around, not too excited of where they'd landed, "Right place? Are you sure?"

"Just followed the co-ordinates on the cliff-face. Earth," the Doctor walked out and checked his watch, "Britain. 1:02am. No, pm. No, AD."

"That's a Roman Legion," Amy grinned when she stepped out and saw the encampment below.

"Well, yeah," the Doctor shrugged, "The Romans invaded Britain several times during this period."

"Oh, I know. My favorite topic at school. Invasion of the hot Italians!"

The Doctor gave her a look while Avalon laughed, "I told her not make that the title!"

"Oh, you didn't even do it!" Amy turned to her.

"Well excuse me but I was in a place where I couldn't do much!"

"Yeah," Amy scoffed, "A Juvenal detention center," she crossed her arms.

The Doctor stepped between them and was about to intervene the bickering when a Roman soldier ran up to them, breathless as he knelt down.

"Hail, Caesar!" he pressed his fist to his chest.

"Hi," the Doctor slowly said, the gingers turning to the soldier with confusion.

"Welcome to Britain. We are honored by your presence."

"Well, you're only human. Arise... Roman person," the Doctor motioned.

"Why does he think you're Caesar?" Amy asked him quietly.

Avalon noticed the soldier's face had red smudges of lipstick and chuckled, "Have I mentioned I like River?"

"Cleopatra will see you now," the soldier said and started leading them away.

The Doctor remembered Octavian's warning to keep River away from Avalon. And, since he lost one Reynolds twin he would certainly not gonna go for a second loss.

~ 0 ~

The group were led into a tent where River Song was dressed as Cleopatra and was being waited on as such by two servants. She smiled upon seeing them, "Hello, sweetie."

"Okay, this," Avalon gestured to the place, "... _very_ nice," she praised and moved around.

"Thanks, sweetie," River beamed.

"River! Hi," Amy waved.

"You graffitied the oldest cliff-face in the universe," the Doctor began his scolding as he walked up to the woman.

"Nice work on that by the way," Avalon called as she picked up some sort of goblet. "Like, seriously, I commend you for your creativity." River laughed but the Doctor was nowhere near amused.

"No, it's not 'nice work'," the Doctor scolded her as well, "It's wrong! It's bad! It's-"

"-what happens when you don't answer the phone," River cut him off with a smirk.

"You have a phone?" asked both Avalon and Amy at the same time.

She clapped her hands, making the servants leave, and then picked up a rolled up canvas which she held out to the Doctor.

"What's this?" the Doctor looked at the canvas.

"It's a painting. Your friend Vincent," River said and the Doctor snatched it from her, unrolling it, "One of his final works," River stood up, "He had visions, didn't he? I thought you ought to know about this one."

Avalon and Amy moved beside the Doctor to see the painting but we're confused of the contents.

"Doctor? Doctor, what is this?" Amy asked, frowning.

"I don't like it," Avalon mumbled as she gazed at the painting or the TARDIS exploding, "Why's the TARDIS exploding?"

"I assume it's some kind of warning," River shrugged as she took the painting from the Doctor, the man going over to a chair with some heavy thoughts going through his head.

"Something's going to happen to the TARDIS?" Amy guessed the logical thing.

"It might not be that literal. Anyway this is where he wanted you," River pointed the gingers to the TARDIS door sign, "The date and map reference on the door sign, see?"

"Does it have a title?" the Doctor called.

"The Pandorica Opens."

"The Pandorica?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, "What is it?"

"A box. A cage. A prison. It was built to contain the most feared thing in all the universe," River explained as she rolled up the painting again.

"And it's a fairy tale, a legend," the Doctor had stood up to pace, "It can't be real."

"Clearly it wasn't to Vincent," Avalon countered. "And, just saying, some fairy tales do turn out to be real."

"If it is real, it's here and it's opening,' River added, "And it's got something to do with your TARDIS exploding."

The Doctor stopped pacing and sighed. He went around the room grabbing different local maps and came to a table where he set all of them down.

"Hidden, obviously," River repeated as he scamned several of the maps, "Buried for centuries. You won't find it on a map."

"No. But if you buried the most dangerous thing in the universe, you'd want to remember where you put it," the Doctor countered.

~ 0 ~

The group acquired horses to ride all the way to Stonehenge where the Pandorica was apparently hidden. Although upon getting there, it was a matter of pinpointing _where_ the Pandorica was located in. The Doctor used the screwdriver on each stone and found just the one where a secret passageway was hidden underneath. With the help of River, light stands were placed around the area, with a device courtesy of River, pressed onto the stone that would lead them down the passageway.

"Right then, ready," River declared and used her handheld device, a scanner/communicator, to activate the device on the stone and make it slide to the side, revealing a staircase leading underground.

"The underhenge," the Doctor took out his screwdriver as a torch and began leading the group down the stairs.

They entered a narrow passageway that would lead them up to a large door with a board across its handles as a lock. The Doctor went to pull it up while River grabbed a torch from a wall across them. They opened the door and entered a cavernous room with a cubed-shaped box in the center, bearing a circular intricate pattern on each of its sides.

"It's the Pandorica," the Doctor blinked.

"Definitely more than just a fairy tale," Avalon smiled brightly and headed for it, nearly tripping over an arm of a Cyberman.

"Avalon, don't get too close!" River warned.

"What's the story behind it?" Avalon ignored the warning as she went around the box. It seemed so serene and smooth for something meant to be a prison.

"Hm, figures she'd treat it like an actual fairy tale," Amy rolled her eyes.

The Doctor walked up to the Pandorica and put a palm on it, "There was a goblin, or a trickster, or a warrior. A nameless, terrible thing, soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies. The most feared being in all the cosmos. And nothing could stop it, or hold it, or reason with it. One day it would just drop out of the sky and tear down your world."

"So how did it end up in there?" Avalon poked her head around the side, actually treating it like a fairy tale than the dangerous prison box it was meant to be.

"You tell me since you're the one who loves fairy tales," the Doctor looked at her, "A good wizard tricked it."

"I hate good wizards in fairy tales," River shook her head and handed Amy the torch so she could use her scanner.

"Why?" Avalon turned to her.

"They always turn out to be him," River frowned but Avalon laughed.

"My hero!"

"So it's kind of like Pandora's Box, then?" Amy concluded after staring at the box for a minute or two, "Almost the same name."

"Sorry, what?" the Doctor looked away from the box, going over to place the torch he had in a holder in order to use the screwdriver on the box.

"The story. Pandora's Box, with all the worst things in the world in it. That was my favorite book when I was a kid," Amy sheepishly admitted. The Doctor stopped what he was doing and looked at her with concern, "What's wrong?" she asked as he walked up to her.

"Your favorite school topic, your favorite story. Never ignore a coincidence, unless you're busy. In which case, always ignore a coincidence."

"What?" Amy laughed, "This is a giant fairy tale! You should be looking at Avalon, the queen of fairy tales!"

"Don't bring me into your issues, Amy Pond," Avalon warned playfully.

"So, can you open it?" River walked up to the Doctor near the Pandorica.

"Easily," he shrugged, "Anyone can break _into_ a prison, but I'd rather know what I'm going to find first."

River looked at her scanner and read off the screen, "It's already opening. There are layers and layers of security protocols in there, and they're being disabled, one by one. Like it's being unlocked from the inside."

"How long do we have?"

"Hours at the most."

"What kind of security?"

"Everything. Deadlocks, time-stops, matter-lines."

"What the hell could need all that?" Avalon looked back at them, recalling the cells she'd been placed in during her times in jail.

"What could get past all that?" River added with a sigh.

"Think of the fear that went into making this box," the Doctor started going around the Pandorica, "What could inspire that level of fear? Hello, you. Have we met?"

Amy thought she'd heard something behind and looked back to see nothing was there.

"So why would it start to open now?" Avalon wondered, never hearing anything. "What triggered it?"

"No idea," the Doctor stepped away.

"Hmm, and how could Vincent have known about it?" Amy reminded as she walked to the box, "He won't even be born for centuries."

"The stones," the Doctor realized as he went over to the pillars to use the screwdriver on them, "These stones are great big transmitters, broadcasting a warning to everyone, everywhere, to every time zone. ' _The Pandorica is opening_!'"

Both Avalon and River tensed at the realization, "Everyone everywhere?" they called.

"Freaky," Amy muttered at them.

"Even poor Vincent heard it in his dreams," the Doctor said without noticing the women behind, "What's in there, what could justify all this?"

"Oi, fairy tale man," Avalon called, "You said _everyone_!"

But...the Doctor still didn't get the idea, "Anything that powerful, I'd know about it. Why don't I know?"

Avalon sighed of frustration, "Is he serious?" she looked at River.

River rolled her eyes, agreeing with her, "Doctor, you said everyone could hear it. So who else is coming?" she called to him, finally getting through.

"Oh..."

"Oh? Oh, _what_?" Amy uncrossed her arms and looked at them all for an explanation.

River walked overt to a pillar and put her scanner on it, "OK, if it is basically a transmitter, we should be able to fold back the signal."

"Doing it," the Doctor quickly used the screwdriver on all the pillars.

"Doing what?" Amy insisted.

"Stonehenge is transmitting, it's been transmitting for a while...so who heard?" River explained and glanced back, now seeing the worried look on Amy as she understood.

"OK, should be feeding back to you now," the Doctor called, "River, what's out there? Getting anything?"

"Give me a moment," she used her scanner.

"River, quickly, anything?"

"Around this planet, there are at least 10,000 starships," River's eyes widened.

" _At least_?" Avalon blinked.

"10,000, 100,000, 1 million," River continued, "I don't know. There's too many readings."

"What kind of starships?" the Doctor turned as River began to type into the scanner.

" _Maintaining orbit_ ," a...Dalek was saying through a transmission.

" _I obey. Shield cover compromised on ion sectors_ ," went the second Dalek.

"Daleks," Avalon and Amy recalled.

"Yes, OK. OK, OK, OK. Dalek fleet," the Doctor took a breath and started pacing, "Minimum, 12,000 battleships, armed to the teeth. But we've got surprise on our side! They'll never expect three people to attack 12,000 Dalek battleships, 'cos we'd be killed instantly. So it would be a fairly short surprise. Forget surprise."

"Doctor, Cyber-ships," River swallowed.

"No, Dalek ships, listen to them, those are Dalek ships!"

"Yes. Dalek ships _and_ Cyber-ships."

"Well, we need to start a fight, turn them on each other. It's the Daleks... they're so cross..."

But River found more results, "Sontaran. Four battle-fleets."

"Sontarans! Talk about cross, who stole all their handbags?"

River's eyes nearly popped out as she found even more results on the scanner, "Terileptil. Slitheen. Chelonian. Nestene. Drahvin. Sycorax. Haemo-goth. Zygon. Atraxi. Draconian. They're all here. For the Pandorica."

"What _are_ you?" the Doctor stared at the Pandorica.

As if answering, the ground began shaking. The group quickly ran back up the stairs to see the dark night sky filled with flying ships, their lights like spotlights as it roamed the area.

"What do we do?" Avalon breathed at the sight.

"Doctor, listen to me!" River turned the man around, "Everything that ever hated you is coming here tonight. You can't win this. You can't even fight it. Doctor, this once, just this one time, please, you have to _run_."

"Run _where_?" he gestured to their surroundings.

"Fight _how_!?" she challenged, "Take Avalon and Amy and RUN!"

But the Doctor ignored the request and used binoculars from his pockets to look back the way they'd come from, "We have something," he announced, "The greatest military machine in the history of the universe."

"What is? The Daleks?" Amy looked up at the spaceships.

"No, no, no. The _Romans_!"

"You want Romans to come and fight _Daleks_?" Avalon raised an eyebrow.

"Right now, it's our only chance," the Doctor turned to her, "River, go back and gather as many as you can."

River nodded and took out a second device from her pocket, "Here, communicator," she handed it to the Doctor, "It'll be handy for us," and she headed for the horses they'd left by.

"I'll come with you," Avalon volunteered, making the Doctor give her a confused face, "We should make it fair," she explained, "Two and two."

"No, no, no," the Doctor shook his head. That was definitely not the way to keep her _away_ from River.

"I'm alright with it," River smiled.

"Great," Avalon beamed.

Before she went off, the Doctor grabbed her arm, "I don't think it's safe," he tried.

Avalon pointed up to the sky, "I don't think it's safe here either," she smiled, "It's fine, honest. I'm more awake now see?" she pointed to her face, indeed looking much more healthy than she had in months, "I've been sleeping more and more. I won't fall asleep anymore, promise."

"Oh let her go," River called, wearing a smirk on her face, "I'll give her back to you before you miss her too much."

"No! It's not like that!" the Doctor quickly argued and let go of Avalon's arm.

"So you wouldn't ever mind if I left?" Avalon raised an eyebrow.

"Well not like that either!" he huffed.

Amy laughed from behind, "Aw, don't gang up on him!"

"I'm going to be going now," Avalon chuckled and hurried after River.

~ 0 ~

Avalon and River rode back to the Roman encampment where they saw more soldiers had arrived in the area. River helped Avalon down the horse and started towards the tent she'd been in earlier as Cleopatra. Avalon moved to follow when she thought she felt eyes on her. She looked around and saw plenty of soldiers around but none she saw were actually looking at her.

"Avalon!" River called and startled the ginger.

She quickly rushed off to find River standing in front of the tent and was actually being blocked the entrance by two soldiers, "What's going on?" she asked.

Their answers were given as the guards blocking the way restrained them and brought them into the tent where the commander of the legion was awaiting them.

"I'm guessing that's the boss," Avalon bit her lip and looked at River who nodded.

"So, I return to my command after one week and discover we've been playing host to Cleopatra," the commander glared at River, "Who's in Egypt. And _dead_!"

"Yes. Funny how things work out," River mumbled.

The ground shook again with the ships in the sky flying over the encampment.

"The sky is falling, and you make jokes," the commander spat, "Who are you?"

"When you fight Barbarians, what must they think of you?" River began, unperturbed by the glares.

"Oh, riddles now?"

"Where do they think you come from?"

Avalon flinched as the commander pulled out his sword and aimed it right at her, "Oi mate, I'm not saying anything," she frowned then quickly looked at River, "Sorry," she whispered as she realized that may have sounded bad.

"To answer your question," the commander looked at River, "A place more deadly and more powerful and more impatient than their tiny minds can imagine. Now you better answer _my_ questions or the redhead gets it."

River raised an eyebrow, dead serious as she whipped out her disintegrator gun and shot at a cabinet, stunning everyone as the cabinet practically turned to dust, "Where I come from I make sure none of my friends are hurt," she snapped, "Try it again and this time I assure you I will not hesitate to use it on you," she warned, "You are all the Barbarians now that deal with visitors of the unknown."

"What is that? Tell me, what?" the commander demanded.

"A fool would say, the work of the gods. But you've been a soldier too long to believe there are gods watching over us. There is, however, a man. And tonight he's going to need your help."

"Sir?" a soldier pulled the curtain of the tent.

"One moment," the commander sighed and walked over to the soldier.

After a hushed conversation, the soldier and the commander turned to Avalon and River, "Well, it seems you have a volunteer," the commander announced.

"That's a first," Avalon remarked.

"Don't question it," River mumbled to her and spoke normal volume to the others, "Well then, we're done here," she pulled Avalon towards the entrance, "Can you gather more soldiers?" she asked the volunteer.

"I'll try," the soldier said and motioned for them to follow him, despite the looks of the commander.

"Why would you volunteer?" Avalon asked as they followed him out the tent, "I mean, thanks a lot, but...aren't you the least bit interested to know what you're getting into?"

" _Don't_ question it," River muttered, "I'm going to go get more soldiers," she looked at Avalon, "Be careful," she warned and walked off.

"Right," she waved River off, "So seriously, why would you volunteer?" she insisted with the soldier.

"Ava," the soldier turned to her, startling her with the usage of her nickname, "Don't you recognize me?"

"Why did you just call me that?" she frowned and stepped back, "Only one person calls me that."

"Yeah, _me_ ," the soldier pulled off his helmet to reveal Rory Williams underneath, "Hi, Ava," he smiled brightly.

But Avalon raised her eyebrows, confused as hell as she studied the Roman soldier, "No...only the Doctor calls me 'Ava'. I don't even know you..."

"Don't play jokes, Ava. It's really not funny this time," Rory shook his head, "I can't believe you're actually here!" he took the startled ginger for a hug, "I really thought you were all dreams now!"

"Why do you keep calling me Ava? How do you even know that?" Avalon pulled away and stared at Rory's face, swallowing hard as she felt something odd in her stomach.

Rory frowned as he studied Avalon, realizing through her eyes she really didn't know who he was, "A-Ava..." he stepped towards her, Avalon immediately stepping away, "...Ava, it's me, why don't you know me? I'm Rory! Your best friend!"

Avalon found her eyes growing teary and that feeling in her stomach growing the more she looked at the man, "What's going on?" she asked, her voice becoming soft, "I don't know, I promise, I don't..."

"I'm your best friend, Ava. _I_ came up with the name Ava, not the Doctor!" Rory exclaimed, "I can prove it," he pointed.

"How?"

"You hate when people mention your middle name, you've wanted to be a writer ever since you were little, you absolutely adore fairy tales and have a complete stack of them on bookshelves in your room."

Avalon's eyes widened as she knew those things were all true, the very core of her personality actually, "How do you know that?" she whispered, "And why don't I know you?"

"I'm your best friend, Ava. I...I don't know what happened, but I'm here," he gestured to the encampment, "I'm here and now you are too."

Avalon streamed tears down her cheeks, angry with herself because she could not remember for the life of her, words just at the tip of her tongue, "I can't...I don't...I'm crying and I don't cry in front of people," she sniffled and quickly wiped her face, "Especially strangers."

"The Doctor has some real explaining to do," Rory grumbled.

"You know him too?" Avalon asked.

"Of course I do, because I'm _me_!" Rory pointed to himself, "I'm Rory!"

Avalon started sniffling more and more as she stared at the man who claimed to be her best friend and actually knew things about her. The holes in her mind, the small snippets of memories she'd been having started coming back to her. This was what her mind had been trying to tell her, hadn't it? Even vincent had pointed out - her _losses_.

She burst into sobs as she ran up to hug Rory. "Rory! Rory Williams!" she hugged him tight.

"You remember?" Rory gasped.

"Bits," she sniffled, "You taught me how to play football," she started getting the images in her head, "You bailed me out of jail every time."

"Figures you'd remember that one," Rory muttered.

Avalon pulled away and laughed through her tears, "Shut up," she playfully pushed him.

"Avalon!" River called, making them both turn around, "We've gotta go."

"You recruited more of them?" Avalon asked.

"Yes, well..." River looked at Rory, "Wouldn't help if you went and talked to more of them."

Rory nodded and looked back to Avalon, "I don't know what happened but I'm really glad to see you back," he kissed her hair and walked off to the soldiers.

Avalon stared after Rory, frustrated that she'd actually _forgotten_ him. How could that happen!? Even now as she only remembered bits and pieces of him, she was beginning to remember his identity more. What on Earth had happened that made her forget her best friend!?

~ 0 ~

Amy went around the Pandorica room lighting up the torches meanwhile the Doctor continued studying the box itself, "So what's this got to do with the TARDIS?"

"Nothing, as far as I know," he shrugged.

"But Vincent's painting... the TARDIS was exploding," Amy rejoined him by the Pandorica, "Is that going to happen?"

"One problem at a time. There's forcefield technology inside this box. If I can enhance the signal, I could extend it all over Stonehenge. Could buy us half an hour."

"What good is half an hour?"

"There are fruit flies live on Hoppledom 6 that live for 20 minutes and they don't even mate for life. There was going to be a point to that. I'll get back to you."

Amy pulled out the engagement box from her pocket and cleared her throat, "So...are you proposing to someone?"

"I'm sorry?"

"I found this in your pocket."

The Doctor looked up to see the engagement box in her hands, "No. No, no, that's, uh...a memory. A friend of mine, someone I lost," he tried taking it but Amy jerked her hand away, "Do you mind?"

"It's weird, I feel... I don't know. Something," Amy stared at the ring, "I showed it to Avalon, and she feels the same way."

"People fall out of the world sometimes, but they always leave traces," the Doctor sighed and gave up on taking it from her, "Little things we can't quite account for. Faces in photographs, luggage, half eaten meals... rings... Nothing is ever forgotten, not completely. And if something can be remembered, it can come back." And he believed Avalon was far closer to that than Amy, for a reason he still couldn't understand.

Amy heard his words as she stared at the ring but snapped it shut once she felt even more weird with the ring, "So, was she nice, your friend?" she held back the box to the Doctor.

Sadly, he took the box back and put it in his pocket. He returned to his work on the Pandorica for a moment but stopped to look at Amy, "Remember that night you flew away with me?" he wasn't mentioning the fact that there had been another Reynolds with him at the moment.

"Of course I do," she nodded.

"And you asked me why I was taking you and I told you there wasn't a reason. I was lying."

"What, so you did have a reason?"

"Your house."

Amy laughed lightly, "My house," she shook her head.

"It was too big, too many empty rooms. Does it ever bother you, Amy, that your life doesn't make any sense?"

Amy frowned at the question but didn't have time to think about it when a laser fired beside them. They turned to see a Cyberman arm firing at them. They quickly hid on opposite sides of the Pandorica while the arm continued to fire.

"OK, What was that?" Amy exclaimed.

"Need a proper look. Got to draw its fire, give it a target," the Doctor said.

"How?"

"You know how sometimes I have really brilliant ideas?"

Amy hesitated to answer that, "...yes."

"Sorry!" he said right before running out of his hiding spot to be out in the open, a plain target, "Look at me, I'm a target!" as the arm fired at him he quickly ducked and hid again.

"What is that?" Amy asked again.

"Cyber-arm. Arm of a Cyberman."

"And what's a Cyberman?"

"Oh, sort of part man, part robot. The organic part must have died off years ago, now the robot part is looking for fresh meat."

"What... _us_?" Amy blinked.

"It's just like being an organ donor, except you're alive and sort of screaming-"

"That's _not_ like being an organ donor is like!" Amy cut in.

"I need to get round behind it, could you draw its fire?" the Doctor ignored her remark.

"Like you did?" she crossed her arms.

"You'll be fine if you're quick, it's only got one arm. Literally," he gave a bright smile and two thumbs up.

Amy repeated the gesture and went for it, screaming as she ran across the open space with the cyberarm shooting at her. The Doctor was able to snatch the arm from behind and used the sonic to disactivate it.

"Doctor?" Amy called, afraid to do much more.

"Scrambled its circuits, but stay where you are," the Doctor held onto the Cyberarm tight, "It could be bluffing."

"Bluffing?" Amy raised an eyebrow, "It's an arm!"

"I said stay where you are!" the Doctor shouted as he stood up.

With a huff, Amy stepped back and crossed her arms. Not too much later, she felt something wrap around her legs, "Doctor!" she cried as she yanked down to the ground.

"Amy!" he moved to help her when he was shocked by the cyberarm and collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

"Doctor!" Amy called as she saw a Cyberman head binding her wrists with its wires, using it to pull itself closer to her. With struggle, she managed to stand and be nearly face to face with it. The seam of the Cyberhead opened down the center and released a skull it held inside, making Amy scream. With no occupant in its head, the Cyberhead started snapping open and close to try and capture Amy's head. Amy banged the head against a pillar and chucked it at the ground, relieved to see it scuttling away from her.

"Doctor!" she called again and turned to find the man, only to feel something prick her neck. She removed a small dart from her neck and frowned.

"You will be assimilated," the Cyberhead said.

"Yeah?" she raised an eyebrow, "You and whose body?" then she heard the stomping sounds of footsteps growing closer. It was the body of the Cyberman without the head and an arm coming towards her. It picked up its head and put it back on then continued its way to Amy. She grabbed a torch and tried fighting with it but felt her body slowly getting weaker with the drug from the dart. She fell back through a double set of doors which thankfully shut behind her, "Doctor!" she shouted. The Cyberman pounded on the door for a minute or so before it went dead silent. Amy moved up to the door and put an ear to it, "Doctor?" she hoped. A sword was thrust into the door and opened up to show Amy the Cyberman pinned to it with sparks coming out of it. She saw a Roman soldier standing in front of her, Rory, "Who...? Who are you...?" Amy felt her breath begin to leave her as she felt sleepy.

"Hello, Amy," Rory smiled. Amy merely blinked and fainted, thankfully caught by Rory, "Whoa, whoa!" he carried her over to a stone table nearby and set her down. He smiled and caressed her hair, happy to see her once more, and hoping to dear God she didn't have amnesia like Avalon had.

"Sir, the man's coming round," another soldier walked into the room.

"Amy!" they heard Rory calling, "Where's Amy!?" he ran into the room, sighing when he saw her on the table.

"She's fine, Doctor, just unconscious," Rory said as the Doctor checked Amy with the screwdriver.

"Okay," the Doctor nodded, "Yes, she's sedated, that's all. Half an hour, she'll be fine. OK, Romans, good, I was just wishing for Romans, good old River. How many?"

"50 men up top, volunteers. What about that thing?" Rory pointed back to the Cyberman on the door.

"50?" the Doctor made a face, "Not exactly a legion, you know."

Rory nodded for the other soldier to leave, "Your friend River was persuasive, but it's a tough sell."

"Yes, I know that, Rory, I'm not exactly one to miss the obvious. But we need everything we can get," the Doctor walked over to a chest, taking out two large guns from it, "OK, Cyber-weapons. This is basically a sentry box. So, headless wonder here was a sentry. Probably got himself duffed up by the locals. Never underestimate a Celt."

"Doctor..." Rory frowned, seriously was no one going to mention that he was indeed _alive_!?

"Hush, Rory. Why leave a Cyberman on guard? Unless it's a Cyberthing in the box. But why would they lock up one of their own? OK, no, not a Cyberthing, but what, what? No, I'm missing something obvious, Rory!" the Doctor nearly shouted as he stood face to face with Rory, "Something big, something right slap in front of me, I can feel it!"

"Yeah, I think you probably are," Rory nodded.

"I'll get it in a minute," the Doctor promised and headed out of the room.

Rory waited for a couple seconds until he heard the clattering of guns falling. The Doctor re-entered the room and walked straight to Rory. As if to test he wasn't fake, the Doctor poked Rory's chest, watching the man sway back and forth.

"Hello again..." the Doctor blinked rapidly.

"Hello," Rory quietly waved.

"How've you been?"

"Good, yeah...good. I mean, Roman," Rory gestured to his armor he wore.

"Rory, I'm not trying to be rude...but you died," the Doctor spun around the room hoping he'd see a sweet little brunette coming into the room, possibly a Roman as well.

Rory watched in confusion as the man finally stopped and sighed, "What are you doing?" he had to ask.

"You died and then you were erased from time," the Doctor recalled, "You didn't just die, you were never born at all, you never existed."

"Erased?" Rory remembered the confusion of Avalon when she'd first seen him, "What does that mean exactly? Like...no one knows me?"

"How can you be here?" the Doctor ignored him as he thought of every possible reason why Rory was standing there alive...and hoping to come up with an answer so he could use it to perhaps find an alive Lena Reynolds as well.

"I don't know. It's kind of fuzzy," Rory admitted as he thought of the day he'd 'died'.

"Fuzzy?"

"Well, I died and turned into a Roman. It's very distracting," Rory reminded and looked at Amy again, "Please tell me she knows who I am," he pleaded, "I met Avalon earlier..."

The Doctor tensed, "And...how'd that go?"

"She knew nothing of me," Rory looked at him, crossed, "Did you do something to her head?"

"No, I haven't," the Doctor quickly shook his head.

"Cos she had no idea who I was. Thankfully, she remembered me in the end...but not all. Is that what's going to happen to Amy when she wakes up?" Rory swallowed, and then he blinked when he realized something. He started looking around the room, the Doctor watching him cautiously as Rory rushed out the room back to the Pandorica, scanning the area, not even realizing the Pandorica was glowing green in its patterns, no he was focusing on something else. The Doctor had a pretty good idea of what Rory was looking for and sighed. Instead, he used his screwdriver on the Pandorica and realized it was opening up now.

"Doctor," Rory turned to him, serious, "Where's Lena?" he hadn't even realized the twin wasn't with Avalon and River and in saving Amy he hadn't checked where the Doctor was nor Lena. He knew Avalon wouldn't be with the Doctor if Lena was back home. Where Lena was, Avalon was, period. So...where was she?

"Rory...um...you probably don't remember," the Doctor began, "You'd been shot first..."

" _First_?" Rory blinked, "What do you mean ' _first_ '?"

"Avalon doesn't remember," the Doctor found it complicated to speak the simple words.

"What doesn't she remember?" Rory stepped, "What happened?" he demanded.

"Lena died, Rory," the Doctor took breath, "After you were shot, Restac tried firing on Avalon and...Lena took the shot."

Rory stumbled back, "Wh-what? She...she what!?" he couldn't believe what he heard, and yet...it made sense. Avalon would never be traveling in the TARDIS while Lena remained at home. The only reason why Avalon would be here...was because she didn't even remember she had a twin, a twin who had died.

Before the Doctor could say more, he heard the communicator River had left him with from his pocket and took it out, "What is it?"

~ 0 ~

Avalon and River were watching the sight of the Stonehenge surrounded by flying spaceships from a distance, both on their horses.

"You're surrounded," River spoke into her communicator, "Have you got a plan?"

"Yes! Now hurry up and get the TARDIS here," the Doctor ordered, "I need equipment!"

"And tell him he has some explaining to do about my best friend dying and coming back," Avalon made sure to speak loud enough for her voice be heard through the communicator.

River winced at the tone Avalon used and whistled, "She's got the temper again, Doctor. Better whip out those strategies of yours soon," she turned off the communicator and put it away.

"Why do you do that?" Avalon asked her, not angry about her little innuendos just...curious. She actually wondered if she should be worried about that.

Anyone back home who tried those little remarks ended up being punched in the face for them.

River smirked and turned her horse back around, "We should go," she said and rode off. Avalon rolled her eyes and obeyed, riding off behind her.

~ 0 ~

At Stonehenge, the Roman soldiers scattered the area as if to keep 'guard' even though the enemies were flying up above them in their ships. Suddenly, they heard the Doctor's voice as an echo, "Sorry, sorry, dropped it. Hello, Stonehenge! Who takes the Pandorica, takes the universe. But bad news, everyone..." he hopped onto a stone and looked up at the ships, speaking through his communicator as a speaker, "'Cos guess who?! Ha! Listen, you lot, you're all whizzing about, it's really very distracting. Could you all just stay still a minute? Because I am talking!" the ships actually stopped to listen, "The question of the hour is, who's got the Pandorica? Answer... I do. Next question, who's coming to take it from me? Come on! Look at me, no plan, no back-up, no weapons worth a damn. Oh, and something else, I don't have, anything... to... lose! So if you're sitting up there in your silly little spaceship, with all your silly little guns, and you've got any plans on taking the Pandorica tonight, just remember who's standing in your way. Remember every black day I ever stopped you. And then, do the smart thing. Let somebody else try first," he held his arms out to wait out the first try...but nothing happened. The ships took off instead, leaving the Doctor cheerfully hop off the stone and join Rory, "That'll keep 'em squabbling for half an hour! Romans!"

They could only hope.

~ 0 ~

Avalon and River entered the TARDIS in haste and went towards the console.

"Okay," River was about to place the coordinates to rejoin the Doctor when the TARDIS jolted as it dematerialized, "What's the matter? Did you do anything?" she looked at Avalon.

"No! I don't even know how to drive it!" Avalon raised both her hands.

"What?" she frowned, hanging onto the console as the box kept shaking, even Avalon having to hang on.

"The Doctor said he would teach me when pigs flew!"

River blinked then shook her head and muttered, "I'm gonna kill him."

~ 0 ~

"They're still out there," Rory came down the stairs to where the Doctor was still with the Pandorica, "What do we do now?"

"If I can stop whatever's in this box getting out, then they'll go home," the Doctor stepped away from the box as he noticed Amy coming out of the room, "Rory, I'm sorry, you're going to have to be very brave now."

Rory turned and saw Amy, more or less expecting the same reactions from her as Avalon did.

"Oh, my head," Amy walked around him up to the Doctor.

"Aaaahhh," the Doctor opened his mouth and set his hands on her shoulders.

"Aaaahhh," Amy followed his gesture.

"Just your basic knock-out drops. Get some fresh air, you'll be fine," the Doctor let her go and looked at Rory, apologetically.

"Is it safe up there?" Amy raised an eyebrow.

"Not remotely, but it's fresh."

"Fine," she huffed and turned, bumping into Rory, "Oh, you're the guy, yeah," she pointed, "The one who did the...swordy thing."

"Yeah," Rory sighed.

"Well, thanks for the swording. Nice swording," she smiled and tapped him on the shoulder then walked towards the stairs.

"No problem," Rory said, trying not to sound like his heart was breaking, "My men are up there. They'll look after you."

"Good, love a Roman!"

"And she dosn't remember neither," Rory turned to the Doctor, "I don't understand! How can no one remember me!?"

"Well, just pointing out, Avalon and I remember you now," the Doctor tried to brighten up the room.

"I love my best friend, but...I'd really like for my fiancee to remember me too! How can I not be remembered? How can Avalon not remember her own twin? Lena was her life and she just forgot about her. They forgot about us."

"It wasn't their fault," the Doctor shook his head, "You and Lena never existed. Avalon thinks she's got only one sibling and a father, Amy thinks she's single and her parents are just...gone."

Rory didn't even question the fact that Amy's parents apparently had also been erased from time. All he thought about were the gingers he loved most in the world, and a brunette that had died along with him...only he was here, a chance given to reclaim his identity...and Lena was still gone.

~ 0 ~

"River!" Avalon exclaimed as the TARDIS shook violently.

"What are you doing, what's wrong?" River helplessly went around the console, trying to calm down the box.

~ 0 ~

"There are cracks. Cracks in time. There's going to be a huge explosion in the future, on one particular day. And every other moment in history is cracking around it," the Doctor explained to Rory in an effort to make him understand what happened to him and Lena after 'dying'.

"So how does that work? What kind of explosion? What exploded?"

"Doesn't matter, the cracks are everywhere. Get too close and you can fall right out of the universe."

Rory nodded and reviewed what he'd heard so far, "So...Lena and I died and we fell through a crack and now we were never born?"

"Basically," the Doctor nodded.

"So how did _I_ end up here?" Rory raised an eyebrow, "And could it mean that Lena might be alive somewhere?"

"I don't know, you shouldn't have been here," the Doctor sighed, "Lena...I don't even know anymore. Could be, could not be..." he shook his head, "Tell me what happened. From your point of view, what physically happened?"

"I was in the cave, with you, the twins and Amy. I was dying and then I was just here, a Roman soldier. A proper Roman. Head full of Roman... stuff, a whole other life. Just here like I'd woken up from a dream. Started to think it was a dream. You, the twins, Amy and Leadworth. Then today, in the camp, the men were talking about the visitors, the girls with the red hair. I thought you'd come back for me. But she can't even remember me."

"Oh, shut up," the Doctor rolled his eyes, "You got Avalon to remember you, what's stopping you from getting Amy to do it?" he reached inside his pocket and pulled out the engagement box, tossing it over, "Go get her."

"But I don't understand. Why am I here?" Rory sighed, so full of questions and yet no answers that were clear were given to him.

"Because you are. The universe is big. It's vast and complicated and ridiculous, and sometimes, very rarely, impossible things just happen and we call them miracles, and that's the theory. 900 years, never seen one yet. But this would do me. Now

get upstairs, she's Amy and she's surrounded by Romans. I'm not sure history can take it."

Rory nodded and hurried towards the steps, though stopped at one point and looked back, "Doctor...if Avalon remembered me, then...won't she start remembering Lena too?"

The Doctor honestly didn't know what would happen the more Avalon started remembering for real. "I'm not sure, Rory," he looked at Rory, "There were times where Avalon came close. It was like, she remembered more than Amy. I don't know what it was, what it _is_ , but her subconscious is highly more alert."

Rory nodded, unsure if he wanted Avalon to remember she'd lost Lena. He knew that it would potentially destroy his best friend because she'd already lost a mother, and now she'd lost a sister.

~ 0 ~

The TARDIS had finally come to a halt, Avalon and River slowly standing straight and cautiously looking around for anything.

"Is it okay now?" Avalon asked quietly, "You okay?" she looked at the rotor.

River moved over to the monitor and whacked it a couple times to get it working but never received anything from it, "I'll go look out."

"I'm coming with," Avalon headed for the doors.

"Avalon..." River sighed when the ginger opened the doors. She never listened! She hurried and followed Avalon, bumping into her back as she came out, "What is it?" she rubbed her head and stepped around Avalon.

"This is Amy's house," Avalon looked at the back yard of Amy.

"Why would the TARDIS bring us here?" River held up her scanner and headed for the backdoor of the house. However, they made only a couple steps when the scanner beeped. River noticed symbols on the grass, not human of course.

'Someone's been here," Avalon frowned at the backdoor looking as if it was knocked down.

"We better be careful," River warned and walked cautiously into the house.

They went up the stairs where chaos seemed to follow. It looked like the house had been ransacked! They entered Amy's room where River saw all of Amy's childhood dolls, most of them of the Doctor in the raggedy clothes of his last incarnation.

"Oh, I remember these," Avalon picked up one of the dolls of the Doctor, "I felt so bad for Amy at times cos as much as we loved her...we couldn't back up her story when she told everyone else."

"' _We_ '?" River asked, "Who else was with you that night?"

Avalon blinked as she realized she had used the 'we' when it had only been herself and Amy when they met the Doctor 14 years ago. "Um...I guess I meant my family, you know," River nodded and moved away to look at more things, "But I remember her being constantly scolded because she was being ridiculous over an imaginary friend."

"Oh no..." River mumbled, making Avalon look over.

"What?" she set down the doll and moved beside River.

River held a children's book on Roman Britain, a familiar figure on the cover. She opened the book up and started looking at some of the pages. Avalon then saw a book on Pandora's Box nearby and picked up, River noticing it as well and remembering Amy's mention of it being one of her favorite topics as a child.

"This isn't good...is it?" Avalon looked at River with a frown, waving the book she held.

River took the book from her and looked around, swallowing hard, "We need to go..."

~ 0 ~

The Doctor was getting rather impatient waiting for his TARDIS to be delivered. He took out the communicator he'd been given and spoke into it, "Where's the TARDIS? Hurry up!"

"Don't raise your voice, don't look alarmed, just listen," River spoke quietly and slowly, the Doctor listening and obeying without a protest.

~ 0 ~

"It's the Romans," River began, "They're not real, they can't be. They're all right here in the story book," she looked at Avalon who was flipping through the pages of the Roman book they'd taken from Amy's house, "Those actual Romans, the ones I sent you, the ones you're with right now. They're all in a book in Amy's house, a children's picture book."

"Don't forget to mention the fact that Amy's house was also broken into," Avalon added, the Doctor able to hear her as well, "There were alien symbols on the grass, Doctor. Why would aliens go into Amy's house?"

"What are you even doing there?" he countered instead.

"It doesn't matter. The TARDIS went wrong," River cut in, "Doctor, how is this possible?"

"Something's using her memories, Amy's memories," the Doctor said.

"But how?" Avalon asked.

"You said something had been there."

"Yes, there's burn marks on the grass outside, landing patterns," River explained.

"If they've been to her house, they could have used her psychic residue.

Structures can hold memories, that's why houses have ghosts. They could've taken a snapshot of Amy's memories. But why?"

"So who are those Romans?" Avalon had to ask, "And why is Rory with them?"

"Projections. Or duplicates," the Doctor was thinking.

"But they were helping us. My lipstick even worked," River shook her head.

"They might think they're real. The perfect disguise. They actually believe their own cover story, right until they're activated."

Avalon gasped as she picked up a a picture of Amy and Rory, Rory dressed as a Roman soldier, "It's Rory..."

River took the picture from her and looked at it, "Doctor, that Centurion..."

"He's not part of it," Avalon immediately said, declared, "He _can't_ be!"

"It's a trap, it has to be," River concluded, "They used Amy to construct a scenario you'd believe, to get close to you," she said to the Doctor.

"Why? Who'd do that? What for?" the Doctor sighed, "It doesn't make sense."

"But Rory can't be," Avalon insisted, "He's not-"

The console sparked violently and the TARDIS shook once more, making both women shriek.

"Avalon!? River!?" they could hear the Doctor calling for them, "What's happening?!"

"I don't know, it's the engines!" River managed to respond, "Doctor, there's something wrong with the TARDIS, like something else is controlling it."

"You're flying it wrong!"

"I'm flying it perfectly! Avalon taught me! And you taught her!"

"You said that before," Avalon pointed.

"Not the time!" River snapped at her too.

"Where are you?" the Doctor asked, "What's the date reading?"

Avalon moved over to the monitor and checked the date, "It's the 26th June, 2010," she called.

"You need to get out of there _now_!" the Doctor frantically ordered, not understanding what was happening to the TARDIS, "Any other time zone, just go."

"We can't break free!" River exclaimed as she tried working the controls.

"Well, then, shut down the TARDIS. Shut down everything!"

"I can't!"

"Silence will fall," a new voice emerged in the room, freezing River in her place, "Silence will fall."

"What is that?" Avalon fearfully looked around.

River pulled her away from the monitor, angrily looking around, "Ignore it," she told Avalon, "Just...stay close," she slowly moving up to the controls again, making sure Avalon was right beside her.

"Ava? River?" the Doctor called again, growing worried at the silence he'd heard, "What's happening?"

"Someone else is flying the TARDIS," River explained, "An external force. I've lost control."

~ 0 ~

"But how? Why!?" the Doctor grew frustrated as he came up with so many questions and yet nothing helpful for them. A blinding light cut the conversation short along with a high-pitched noise. The Doctor covered his other ear while behind him the Romans dropped into a bent forwards position.

~ 0 ~

"Listen to me, just land her anywhere. Emergency landing, _now_ ," the Doctor ordered once more, "There are cracks in time, I've seen them everywhere, and they're getting wider. The TARDIS exploding is what causes them, but we can stop the cracks ever happening if you just land her!"

"But it's not safe!" River shouted, still working the controls or at least trying to.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor watched as the Pandorica slowly opened up. The Romans turned on him in unsion while lifting their right hands in front of them.

"Well, now. Ready to come out, are we?" the Doctor stepped forwards, wondering just what was laying inside the box.

"Doctor, we're down. We've landed," he heard River from the communicator.

"Okay, just walk out of the doors, please," he insisted, "If there's no-one inside, the TARDIS engines shut down. Just get out of there."

"We're going, sheesh," Avalon said and the Doctor just knew she was rolling her eyes at him.

"Run!" he ordered and headed for the Pandorica.

He didn't even realize the Romans had started marching towards him with their fingers hanging down, revealing guns. He started using the screwdriver on the Pandorica.

~ 0 ~

Avalon and River went towards the doors and tried opening them up. When the doors refused to do so, River groaned and ran back to the console for the communicator. Avalon remained at the doors, continuing to to struggle with the doors.

"Doctor! Doctor! We can't open the doors!" River called frantically.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor bent down to pick the communicator and finally saw the nearing soldiers, "Amy!" he recalled the ginger was with Rory...one of the Roman soldiers.

Little did he know how much Rory struggled to fight against the programming he had inside of him. He didn't want to go and fight and be the 'plastic Roman Centurion'.

~ 0 ~

River remained by the console trying to figure another way out, "Doctor, we can't open the doors!" she watched Avalon helplessly pull at the doors and get nothing from them, "Doctor, please, We've got _seconds_!"

~ 0 ~

But the Doctor was being held by two Roman soldiers who were leading him away from the Pandorica, "Plastic Romans. Duplicates, driven by the Nestene Consciousness, eh? Deep cover, but what for?" the Doctor looked at the entire legion, "What are you doing? What's in there, eh? What's coming out?"

~ 0 ~

River ran jumper cables from the console and hurried up to the doors, Avalon helping her to attach them to the doors.

"Are you sure this will do anything?" the ginger looked at her.

"Hopefully," was all River had to say.

~ 0 ~

"The Pandorica is ready," one of the soldiers said, confusing the Doctor.

"What, you mean it's open?" the Doctor guessed as he looked at them. He had his back facing the Pandorica, something he assumed was intentional as everyone else got to see the box.

"You have been scanned. Assessed. Understood. Doctor," went a Dalek voice behind him.

The Doctor stiffened and slowly looked over his shoulder to see a white Dalek coming towards them, two more Daleks appearing behind it. The soldiers turned him around to face the Daleks and Pandorica that was in the process of opening.

"Scanned?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow, "Scanned? Scanned by what, a box?"

His answer came from a _cyberman_ now, "Your limits and capacities have been extrapolated."

The Doctor hesitated to look but finally looked over to see a Cyberman...and Judoon...and Sontarans.

"The Pandorica is ready," one of the Sontarans told him.

"Ready for what?" the Doctor dreadfully asked.

"Ready for _you_ ," the Dalek answered.

The Doctor was finally able to get a look into the Pandorica and saw a high-tech chair with restraints set in the middle. Once he realized just who was going to be placed in that box he started to struggle against the soldiers who were now attempting to pull him towards the box.

~ 0 ~

River and Avalon connected the wires while the TARDIS sparked and exploded violently behind them.

~ 0 ~

More species started to come into the room while the Doctor was being placed into the chair including Silurians, Hoix and Roboforms..

~ 0 ~

With the attempt on the door, the console reacted even worse with severe sparks that were increasing as the seconds ticked by.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor was forced into the chair and held back with all its restraints . He looked out to all of his enemies watching him and was genuinely shocked, "You lot, working _together_ , an alliance... How is that possible?" he just had to ask.

"The cracks in the skin of the universe," the white Dalek answered.

"All reality is threatened," a Sontaran informed.

"All universes will be deleted," the Cyberman added.

"What?" the Doctor frowned, "And you've come to me for help?" that...did not make much sense, actually.

"No," the Sontaran snapped, ""We will save the universe from you!"

"From _me_?"

"All projections correlate. All evidence concurs. The Doctor will destroy the universe," the Cyberman explained.

"No, no, no. You've got it wrong," the Doctor tried to say.

"The Pandorica was constructed to ensure the safety of the alliance," the Cyberman went on to explain.

"A scenario was devised from the memories of your companion," the Dalek said.

"A trap the Doctor could not resist," the Sontaran added.

"The cracks in time are the work of the Doctor. It is confirmed."

"No. no, no. Not me, the TARDIS," the Doctor shook his head, "And I'm not in the TARDIS, am I?" he actually wondered what was happening to Avalon and River now that they were practically on their own.

"Only the Doctor can pilot the TARDIS," the Dalek informed.

"Please, listen to me!"

"You will be prevented."

"Total event collapse!" the Doctor shouted, "Every sun will supernova at every moment in history. The whole universe will never have existed! Please, listen to me!"

"Seal the Pandorica," the Cyberman instructed.

"No! Please, listen to me! The TARDIS is exploding right now and I'm the only one who can stop it! Listen to me!" the Doctor cried and helplessly watched the doors of the Pandorica shut before him, leaving trapped.

~ 0 ~

"Try it, Avalon!" River called from the console.

Avalon pulled on the doors and finally got them open...only for there to be a stone wall in front of her.

"Fairy tale man, where are you?" Avalon stepped back and turned around in time to see River attempting one more try on the console before it exploded with a bright light, Avalon screaming of its might.

~ 0 ~

Disaster had also stricken Amy and Rory above the Pandorica. Rory had managed to stay with Amy...but hadn't been able to stop himself from shooting Amy with the gun hidden behind his fingers. He held Amy while he wept for his dying fiancee.

All around the planet, however, every star had supernova and left the place in total darkness...

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

And so begins the Pandorica arc! I had a lot of fun writing it, especially towards the end of the next chapter. It starts off the plot for the next story!

 **For the review:**

 **softthanos** : I like writing the fluff so yaaay!


	16. The Imaginary Fairy Tale Man

Amelia Pond was knelt down on the side of her bed, praying just like she tended to do every night of late. "Dear Santa, thank you for the dolls and pencils and the fish. It's Easter now, so I hope I didn't wake you. But honest, it is an emergency. There's a crack in my wall..." she opened one eye to look at the crack on her bedroom wall. Even just looking at it gave her a tingle on her back, a _scary_ tingle. "Aunt Sharon says it's just an ordinary crack, but... I know it's not-"

"-cos it's _not_ ," another voice cut into Amelia's prayer. "There's voices on the other side. So, it's not a regular crack."

Amelia opened both her eyes to look at her friend, Avalon Reynolds, sitting on her bed and brushing a Barbie doll's hair. "Then how come you don't back me up when I tell aunt Sharon?"

Avalon put the Barbie doll down and looked at the crack. She tilted her head at it, letting her curly ginger locks fall to one side. "Because we're just kids. No one is going to believe that the crack isn't normal. My parents don't."

"But you're their little girl," Amelia insisted, "The only girl they've got, only child. Maybe if you kept insisting," Amelia sighed.

"They think it's another story," Avalon returned her attention to her Barbie. She didn't bother about the crack anymore because every time she brought it up, her parents told her to leave it alone. A stupid crack wasn't worth the lectures about keeping a low profile and it definitely wasn't worth time outs. So what if there were voices behind the crack - they weren't getting out anyways.

The sound of a gushing wind interrupted little Avalon's thoughts and made both girls hurry to the window. They looked out to the garden and saw nothing outside. Amelia looked up at the moon in the sky and frowned.

"Do you ever feel like something's missing up there?" she asked.

"Dunno," Avalon shrugged, looking up the empty sky. Only the moon was there to illuminate the darkness. "I think there needs to be stars up there. Like the Star cults. Something is missing and barely anyone realizes it," she moved back to Amelia's bed and resumed brushing the Barbie doll's hair.

Amelia looked between the empty sky and Avalon, more inclined to believe her friend than anyone else as Avalon always had a knack for saying the right things when no one else could.

But then again, everyone also thought Avalon just made up stories a lot. She liked fairy tales, so maybe the stars were part of her fantasy worlds.

~ 0 ~

A couple days later, Amelia was once again forced to see a psychiatrist due to her belief in _stars_. Her aunt Sharon had, had enough and called in the woman, Christine, to try and get some sense into Amelia.

Right now, Christine was studying a painting Amelia had made of the night sky, "It's a lovely painting, Amelia. And what are all these?" she pointed at the yellow stars on Amelia's painting.

"Stars," Amelia shrugged.

Her aunt Sharon, who sat beside Christine, bowed her head with a deep sigh, "Oh, Amelia!"

Christine made a motion with her hand for Sharon to calm, "Tell you what, shall we go outside?" she suggested to them.

The two adult women brought Amelia to the backyard where they made her look up at the sky.

"What do you see, Amelia?" Christine asked her.

"The moon," she saw the big, bright gray moon lighting up the dark sky.

"And what else?"

"Just the dark."

"But no stars," Christine made sure to emphasize that, "If there were stars up there, we'd be able to see them, wouldn't we? Amelia, look at me," she turned Amelia to face her, "You know this is all just a story, don't you? You know there's no such thing as stars."

"But my friend Avalon says it could be!" Amelia shook her head and went inside the house, irritated that no one understood her like Avalon did.

After being sent to bed, Amelia laid on her bed and listened to her aunt and Christine talking about her 'issue'. Amelia got out of bed and made her way to the staircase, staying just at the top where she could hear the adults talking clearer.

"It's quite common, actually. Throughout history, people have talked about stars in the sky," Christine was saying, "God knows where it comes from."

"I just don't want her growing up and joining one of those Star Cults," Sharon said back, "I don't like that Avalon Reynolds very much. She keeps putting these crazy ideas in Amelia's head," she sighed.

Amelia frowned when she heard her aunt speaking about Avalon. No one seemed to like the fact that Avalon was different than other little girls. She said odd things, Amelia was the first to admit, but it wasn't automatically bad. Avalon did make some sense when it came to the stars and the cracks. But Amelia knew Avalon had to be right in some sense, and that's why she continued being friends despite the reluctance of everyone else.

Just as Amelia moved to return to her bedroom, she heard something at the front door and saw a slip of paper being skid through the letter slot on the door. Amelia ran down the stairs and picked up the paper off the floor, seeing it was a brochure for the National Museum. She opened it up and saw one of the attractions of the museum, a Pandorica box or something, had been circled in red ink. And, on the back, Amelia saw a note reading, 'Come along, Pond' for her.

~ 0 ~

As much as Amelia had insisted to Avalon that they should both go to the museum together and see who and what had requested for Amelia to go Avalon refused. She knew Amelia's aunt didn't really like her that much and preferred to stay away for the day. So, Amelia had gone to the National Museum with her aunt and had gone straight to the Pandorica room where the box laid in all its glory. She'd managed to slip away from her aunt and saw another note on the Pandorica, also written in the same red ink from the brochure, telling her to stick around. She ended up hiding in a nearby exhibit, successfully avoiding her aunt who had been searching for her all over the museum, going as far as making an announcement over the tannoy of the building to get her to come out.

When it was safe to come out, Amelia emerged from the exhibit she'd been hiding in and headed back into the Pandorica room. She went under the cord around the box and removed the note left for her. She placed a palm on the box and looked at it, gasping when he started glowing a bright green. She quickly moved back as the box started opening up. She covered her eyes as a blinding white light took over the room.

Once the light died down, Amelia looked again just as the box finished opening and came face to face with her older self, "Okay, kid. This is where it gets complicated," Amy took a breath.

~ 0 ~

 ** _In the Past..._**

Rory, the Plastic Centurion who'd managed to stay alive after the fiasco with other soldiers, had opened up the Pandorica with the Doctor's screwdriver, given to him by a future Doctor.

"How did you do that?" the current Doctor was staring at Rory in amazement.

" _You_ gave me this," Rory waved the screwdriver in his hand.

"No, I didn't," the Doctor stepped out of the Pandorica and pulled out his own screwdriver to show he wasn't lying.

"You did. Look at it."

The Doctor held his screwdriver to the one Rory held and both men flinched as the two screwdrivers sparked, "Temporal energy. Same screwdriver, at different points in its own time stream. Which means it was me who gave it to you," the Doctor smiled, "Me from the future. I've got a future, that's nice," his eyes wandered behind Rory to see the remains of the enemies that'd locked him up, "That's not," he pointed at a Dalek.

"Yeah," Rory had ignored the creatures as they were a bit spooky, "What are they?"

"History has collapsed. Whole races have been deleted from existence. These are just like after-images. Echoes, fossils in time. The footprints of the never-were."

"Er, what does that mean?"

"Total event collapse. The universe literally never happened."

"So, how can we be here? What's keeping us safe?"

"Nothing," the Doctor shrugged as he took a better look around the room, "Eye of the storm, that's all. We're just the last light to go out. Amy. Where's Amy?"

~ 0 ~

Rory had brought the Doctor to Amy's body above ground, a blanket covering her, "I killed her," he shuddered a breath at his words. He hadn't meant to, it was literally in his programming to do so. He was Rory now, he was, but what ever had brought him back had been in control and that was what forced him to shoot...and unfortunately Amy had payed the price.

"Oh, Rory," the Doctor sighed, not too surprised of it.

"Doctor, what am I?" Rory dared to ask, needing to know what made him shoot his own fiancee.

"You're a Nestene duplicate. A lump of plastic with delusions of humanity," the Doctor started using the screwdriver on Amy to check for her vitals.

"But I'm Rory now. Whatever was happening, it's stopped. I'm Rory!"

"That's software talking."

Rory rolled his eyes, "Can you help her?" he moved closer, "Is there anything you can do?"

"Yeah, probably, if I had the time," the Doctor shrugged as he stood up, taking a

step over Amy's body.

"The _time_!?" Rory watched the man move away from them.

"All of creation has just been wiped from the sky. Do you know how many lives now never happened?" the Doctor continued his charade of indifference, "All the people who never lived? Your girlfriend isn't more important than the whole universe."

Rory marched over and whipped the Doctor around to give him a punch in the face, satisfied to see the alien knocked to the ground, "She is to _me_!" he shouted.

The Doctor just laughed as he stood back up, rubbing his face where he'd been punched, "Welcome back, Rory Williams! Sorry, had to be sure. Hell of a gun-arm you're packing there. Right, we need to get her downstairs. And take that look off your plastic face. You're getting married in the morning!"

Together, they'd brought Amy down the Pandorica and placed her inside the box, the screwdriver Rory had been given by the future Doctor tucked in her front pocket as had been instructed.

"So you've got a plan, then?" Rory hoped as he watched the final restrains lock on Amy.

"Bit of a plan, yeah. Memories are more powerful than you think, and Amy Pond is not an ordinary girl. Grew up with a time crack in her wall. The universe pouring through her dreams every night. The Nestenes took a memory print of her and got more than they bargained for. Like you. Not just your face, but your heart and your soul," the Doctor put his hands on either side of Amy's face and closed his eyes for a moment, "I'm leaving her a message for when she wakes up, so she knows what's happening," once finished, he stepped back and locked the ginger girl in the Pandorica.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Rory nearly pushed him again, "What are you doing?"

"Saving her," the Doctor stopped him before he did anything rash, "This is the ultimate prison. You can't even escape by dying. It forces you to stay alive."

"But she's already dead," Rory frowned.

"Mostly dead. The Pandorica can stasis-lock her that way. All it needs is a scan of her living DNA and it'll restore her."

"Where's it going to get that?"

The Doctor checked his watch, "In about 2,000 years."

"She's going to be in that box for 2,000 years?!" Rory nearly fell forwards at the answer, "What!?"

"Yeah, but we're taking a shortcut. River's vortex manipulator," the Doctor had pulled out a manipulator from River's bag and was strapping it on to his wrist, "Rubbish way to time travel, but the universe is tiny now. We'll be fine."

"So the future's still there, then?" Rory tried to wrap his mind around this wonky plan, "Our world?"

"A version of it. Not quite the one you know. Earth alone in the sky. Let's go and have a look," the Doctor held his arm out for Rory, the manipulator set to go, "You put your hand there. Don't worry, should be safe."

"That's not what I'm worried about."

The Doctor looked at the Pandorica and sighed, "She'll be fine. Nothing can get into this box."

"You got in there."

"Well, there's only one of me. I counted."

Rory couldn't find it in him to leave Amy alone and so shook his head, "This box needs a guard. I killed the last one."

"No. Rory, no. Don't even think about it," the Doctor pointed as the human moved towards the box again.

"She'll be all alone," Rory tried to say.

"She won't feel it!"

"You bet she won't!"

"2,000 years, Rory," the Doctor reminded, "You won't even sleep, you'd be conscious every second. It would drive you mad."

"Will she be safer if I stay?" Rory looked at him, dead serious, "Look me in the eye and tell me she wouldn't be safer."

"Rory..."

"Answer me!"

"Yes," the Doctor finally gave the answer, "Obviously."

"Then how could I leave her?"

"Why do you have to be so...human?" the Doctor bowed his head, not upset simply fascinated of the matter.

"Because right now, I'm not," Rory answered and walked to the other side of the Pandorica. The Doctor gave up and started setting up the manipulator.

"Listen to me. This is the last bit of advice you're going to get in a very long time. You're living plastic, but not immortal," he began his warnings, "I have no idea how long you'll last. And you're not indestructible. Stay away from heat and radio signals when they come along. You can't heal, or repair yourself. Any damage is permanent. So, for God's sake, however bored you get, stay out of..." but he disappeared before he could finish his sentence.

Rory picked up his helmet and put it on, taking his sword from its place and held it to his side as he began his long vigil.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor appeared right in the middle of a fiasco concerning a Dalek and two gingers, "Trouble..." he finished his sentence, "Oh!" he looked back to see two

Ponds, "Two of you?" he mused, "Complicated."

"Exterminate! 'Weapons systems restoring," the Dalek ahead of them was coming closer to the Pandorica room.

'Come along, Ponds," the Doctor took both gingers by the hand and ran to hiding by the Pandorica box.

"Exterminate!"

The Doctor stopped at an alcove display and nearly fell on a mannequin. He picked up a falling fez and put it on.

"What are we doing?" Amy looked around, hoping to find another way out before the Dalek caught them.

"Running into a dead end, where I'll have a brilliant plan, that basically involves not being in one," the Doctor grinned.

"What's going on?" a watchman called, the group able to see a bit of a torch shining into the room.

The Doctor and the Ponds moved to hide behind the Pandorica, "Get out of here," he told Amy, "Go! Just run!" but the ginger woman refused to go anywhere.

"Drop the device," the Dalek turned on the watchman.

"It's not a weapon," the Doctor called to them before the watchman was hurt, "Scan it. It's not a weapon, and you don't have the power to waste!"

"Scans indicate intruder unarmed."

The watchman scoffed, "Do you think?" he dropped his torch and held his hand out, his index fingers opening down to reveal a gun that fired on the Dalek's eyestalk.

"Vision impaired! Vision... "

The watchman stepped into the Pandorica room where the group was able to see it was RORY.

"Amy?" he breathed at the sight of her as she and the others came around the box.

"Rory!" Amy ran straight to him, nearly knocking him down with her hug.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. It just happened," Rory started apologizing as the ginger clung to him.

"Oh, Shut up," Amy rolled her eyes and kissed him.

"Yeah, shut up, cos we've got to go," the Doctor came up to them and sighed when they kept kissing, "Come on!"

Rory pulled away and smiled at Amy, "I waited. 2,000 years, I waited for you."

"No, still shut up," Amy resumed their kiss.

"And break! And _breathe_!" the Doctor nearly flapped his arms to get their attention back, "Well, somebody didn't get out much for 2,000 years," he muttered in the end.

Amelia tugged on his sleeve, "I'm thirsty," she frowned, "Can I get a drink?"

The Doctor let out a big breath, "Oh, it's all mouths today, isn't it?!" he put the fez he'd taken on her head but she shoved it back to him, still waiting for her drink. He shook his head and looked back at the Dalek, "The light! The light from the Pandorica, it must have hit the Dalek," the Dalek started moving its weapon, "Out! Out! Out!" he took Amelia's hand and pushed the snogging pair in front of them out into the hallway.

He and Rory closed the door and the Doctor pulled out his screwdriver to keep it locked, "So, 2,000 years. How did you do?" he genuinely wondered as he glanced at Rory.

"Kept out of trouble," Rory shrugged.

"Oh," the Doctor realized he still had the fez and placed it back on his head, "How?"

"Unsuccessfully," Rory walked to Amy. The Doctor nodded and picked up a nearby mop for the doors, "The mop!" Rory made him jump, "That's how you looked all those years ago when you gave me the sonic."

"Ah! Well, no time to lose then," the Doctor used the manipulator and disappeared. A couple seconds later he reappeared to put the mop through the door handles as another lock and then disappeared once again.

"How can he do that?" Amelia blinked as the man kept disappearing and coming back, "Is he magic?"

The Doctor finally appeared again and ran for the stairs, "Right, let's go then. Wait! Now I don't have the sonic, I just gave it to Rory 2,000 years ago," and off he went again. Seconds later he reappeared and reached over to Amy and pulled out his screwdriver from her pocket, "Off we go! No, hang on," he moved to Amelia, "How did you know to come here?" Amelia took out the museum brochure and held it out for him, "Ah, my handwriting. OK!" the Doctor ran for the stands of brochures then to a desk across, getting everything he needed for the note and disappeared. He reappeared moments later with a drink for Amelia, "There you go, drink up!" he handed it to her then continued his way up the stairs.

'What is that?" Amy shook her head, a bit dizzy after that.

"Vortex manipulator...cheap and nasty time travel," the Doctor shrugged, "Very bad for you. I'm trying to give it up."

"Where are we going?"

"The roof."

Suddenly, they saw another flash of light where another Doctor appeared at the top of the stairs, his jacket smoking and skin charcoiled. He toppled down the stairs until he came to a stop beside the current Doctor. Quickly, the current Doctor used his screwdriver on him while the humans rushed to them.

"Doctor, it's you. How can it be you?" Rory looked between both aliens.

"Doctor, is that you?" Amy was hesitant to accept such a thing.

"Yeah, it's me," the Doctor put away his screwdriver, "Me from the future."

The future Doctor snapped open his eyes and grabbed the current Doctor, whispering something in his ear before falling to the floor again, unconscious.

Amy's eyes widened as she saw the action, "Are you... I mean, is he... Is he dead?"

The Doctor remained silent for a moment, "What?" he shook his head to snap himself out and stood up, "Yes, yes. Of course he's dead. Right, I've got 12 minutes, that's good," he started up the stairs again.

"12 minutes to live?" Amy stopped him again, "How is that good?"

"You can do loads in 12 minutes... suck a mint, buy a sledge, have a fast bath. Come on, the roof!"

"We can't leave you here, dead," Rory frowned.

"Oh, good! Are you in charge now? So, tell me, what are we going to do about Amelia?" the Doctor looked at where Amelia had originally been at, only her drink left on the floor as evidence.

However, the two humans didn't seem to understand she was gone forever as they started down the stairs searching for her.

"Where did she go?" Amy frowned and looked back at the Doctor.

"Amelia?" Rory shouted for the girl.

"There is no Amelia. From now on, there never was," the Doctor informed, making both look back, "History is still collapsing."

"How can I be here, if she's not?" Amy gestured to herself, as if doubting his words.

"You're an anomaly. We all are. We're all hanging on at the eye of the storm, but the eye is closing, and if we don't do something, reality will never have happened. Today, just dying is a result. Now, come on!"

~ 0 ~

Eventually, the group made it up to the roof where it was visibly daylight now. Amy looked around as if she was being tricked, "How did morning happen?" she questioned.

"History is shrinking. Is anybody listening to me?" the Doctor rolled his eyes as he headed for a satellite dish, "Universe is collapsing. We don't have much time left."

"What are you doing?" Rory raised an eyebrow as the Doctor pulled the dish off its place with the screwdriver.

"Looking for the TARDIS."

"But the TARDIS exploded."

"OK, then. I'm looking for an exploding TARDIS," the Doctor rolled his eyes again at his technicality and moved to the edge of the roof.

"I don't understand," Amy followed him, "So, the TARDIS blew up and took the universe with it. Why would it do that? How?"

"Good question for another day," the Doctor raised the dish up to the sky, "But for now... total event collapse means that every star in the universe never happened. Not one of them ever shone. So, if all the stars that ever were are gone...what is _that_?" he made both humans look at a fireball in the sky. Both Amy and Rory exchanged quick, confused glances before looking at the Doctor again. "Like I said, I'm looking for an exploding TARDIS."

"But that's the _sun_ ," Rory blinked, though now he wasn't so sure that's what it was.

"Is it? Here's the noise that 'sun' is making right now," the Doctor amplified the light noises to make them see it was the TARDIS. "That's my TARDIS burning up. That's what's been keeping the Earth warm."

Rory listened closer and shook his head, "Doctor, there's something else. There's a voice-er, scream."

The Doctor frowned and adjusted the settings of his screwdriver to get a better sound.

"I can't hear anything," Amy tapped her ears.

"Trust the plastic," Rory nodded.

Then they heard the voice Rory was talking about, all recognizing it instantaneously, " _Fairy tale man, where are you?_ " Avalon kept asking on a loop before screaming.

"That's Ava!" Rory nearly shouted, "Doctor, that is Ava and she is _not_ here! Where is she!?"

"The emergency protocols..." the Doctor gasped lightly. He hated himself for not realizing it sooner. "The TARDIS has sealed off the control room and put Avalon and River into a time loop to save them. They're right at the heart of the explosion."

~ 0 ~

River connected wires at the TARDIS console, ignoring the sparks and small explosions as best as she could. She looked up and gave a nod to Avalon. "Try it Avalon!"

Avalon dashed towards the doors and flung them open. She came face to face with a stone wall instead of an outdoor scenery. "Fairy tale man, where are you?" she stepped back and turned around in time to see River attempting one more try on the console before it exploded with a bright light, Avalon screaming of its might.

The loop started over again and so Avalon once more ran for the doors after River gave her the go. Only this time, the Doctor appeared in front of the doors. "Any princess in need of saving?" he looked around like nothing was going on.

Avalon gave a small laugh and ran towards him, jumping to hug him. "You came!"

"Always will," he reassured her for future references. But even then, Avalon kept her arms looped around his neck as if he would disappear in that second.

River smiled behind for a second then hurried towards them. "You're late - that's _rude_."

Her sarcasm was met with a rolling eyes response. "Hang on, please," he instead instructed.

"Avalon's taking care of that," River cleared her throat and put her hand around the Doctor's wrist, grinning at the two who sported pink blushes.

The three disappeared and re-appeared on the rooftop where Amy and Rory waited.

"Amy! And the plastic Centurion?" River eyed the pair.

"Rory!" Avalon ran up to her best friend and hugged him, "I remember completely now! You're my best friend!" she laughed.

"And there's no one else you've, uh...remembered?" Rory pulled away, happy to see her alright.

"Why do you ask?" Avalon stepped back and looked at the others, noticing a similar expression on each of their faces, "What is it?"

"Nothing," the Doctor answered while looking at Rory, nearly forcing him to stay away from the topic of Lena.

Rory frowned, disagreeing with the Doctor's decision. Lena was Avalon's _sister_ , she deserved to be remembered at the least!

River sensed the tension growing between the group and stepped in between them, "Right then, I have questions," she tried distracting, "But number one is this: what in the name of sanity have you got on your head?" she pointed at the red rez the Doctor wore on his head.

"It's a fez. I wear a fez now. Fezes are cool," the Doctor grinned happily.

River looked at Avalon with a smirk, silently agreeing on what was going to happen next. Avalon snatched the fez from the Doctor's head and threw it into the sky where it was shot and destroyed by River.

"Oh!" the Doctor pouted, his head feeling lonely now.

"Next time can I shoot?" Avalon asked River, already eyeing River's blaster.

"Exterminate!" the group turned to see the Dalek they'd left now hovering on the side of the building.

The Doctor forgot about his fez and hurried the others back to the stairwell entrance, "Run, run, move, move. Go! Come on!" after covering everyone with the satellite dish, the Dalek firing as soon as it had the chance, the Doctor was the last to climb down to the stairwell.

"Doctor, come on," River hurried as she kept an aim on the hatch, the others just behind her.

"Shh. It's moving away, finding another way in," the Doctor quieted her down after using the screwdriver to lock the hatch. He jumped down, "It needs to restore its power before it can attack again. Now, that means we've got exactly four and a half minutes before it's at lethal capacity."

"How do you know that?" Avalon followed him down the stairs.

"Because that's when it's due to kill me."

"Kill you?" Avalon and River looked at each other with confusion while Amy and Rory simply sighed behind them.

"What do you mean, 'kill' you?" Avalon insisted seeing as the Doctor had made more of a haste down the stairs, "Oi!" she called.

"Oh, shut up, never mind," he waved her off, unaware of the glare she now had on him, "How can that Dalek even exist?" they entered a hallway, "It was erased from time and then it came back. How?"

"You said the light from the Pandorica..." Rory reminded but was cut off.

"It's not a light, it's a restoration field, but never mind. Call it a light. That light brought Amy back, but how could it bring back a Dalek when the Daleks have never existed?"

"Okay, tell us," Amy motioned with a hand for him to keep going, no one surprised he'd just been playing the moment even more.

"When the TARDIS blew up, it caused a total event collapse. A time explosion. It blasted every atom in every moment of the universe. Except..."

"Except inside the Pandorica."

"The perfect prison. Inside it, perfectly preserved, a few billion atoms of the universe as it was. In theory, you could extrapolate the whole universe from a single one of them, like cloning a body from a single cell. And we've got the bumper family pack."

"No, too fast, I'm not getting it," Rory made a face.

The Doctor sighed and turned back for a moment, "The box contains a memory of the universe, and the light transmits the memory. And that's how we're going to do it."

"Do what, exactly?" Avalon crossed her arms, sharing the misunderstanding with Rory.

"Relight the fire. Reboot the universe. Come on!" the Doctor exclaimed and continued down the hallway.

River, who'd understood perfectly the 'plan', hurried after him, "Doctor, you're being completely ridiculous. The Pandorica partially restored one Dalek. If it can't even reboot a single life form properly, how will it reboot the whole of reality?"

"What if we give it a moment of infinite power?" the Doctor shrugged, "Transmit the light from the Pandorica to every particle of space and time simultaneously?"

"Well, that would be lovely, dear, but we can't, because it's completely impossible!"

"Ah, no, you see, it's not," he tapped her on the forehead, "It's _almost_ completely impossible. One spark is all we need."

"For what?"

"Big Bang Two!" he cheered, "Now listen..." he didn't get the chance to explain the plan in the detail as the Dalek had reappeared and shot him from the back.

"Exterminate! Exterminate!" the Dalek headed for them.

The Doctor had collapsed to the floor in the smokey appearance Amy and Rory had seen twelve minutes ago. Rory made sure everyone else was behind him as he shot the Dalek once more in the eyestalk, draining its energy for another while.

"What do we do?" Avalon knelt beside River, "Is he going to do that face-change thing?"

"Not enough energy hit him for that," River assured her, "Doctor, it's me, River. Can you hear me? What is it? What do you need?"

The Doctor didn't answer anyone, instead reaching to his manipulator on his wrist and activating it, disappearing from the group.

"Where did he go?" River looked around, "Damn it, he could be anywhere."

Amy shook her head as the two women stood up, "He went downstairs. 12 minutes ago."

"Show me!"

"River, he _died_."

"If he died he wouldn't have randomly gone twelve minutes into the past," Avalon refused to believe any such thing involving the Doctor's death. That just wasn't possible. "Clearly, he had a plan that didn't involve telling any of us."

"Systems restoring! You will be exterminated!" the Dalek began to stir again.

"Oh shut up!" Avalon turned to the blasted Dalek in anger.

"Not the time, Ava," Rory quickly stopped her before her temper grew, "We've got to move. That thing's coming back to life."

"Well someone's got to shoot that thing dead," Avalon glared at the creature.

"All of you go to the Doctor," River instructed them, "I'll be right with you."

"What are you going to do?" Avalon looked back at her.

"Exactly what it deserves," River nodded for them to all leave.

Avalon sighed but let Amy and Rory lead her towards the Pandorica room. Upon seeing the Doctor's body not on the stairs as had been twelve minutes ago, Amy and Rory started searching for the missing alien.

"What's going on?" Avalon frowned, coming up behind them and seeing only a jacket on the floor.

"He's moved," Rory explained and ran down the remaining steps, "How could he have moved? He was dead! Doctor? Doctor!"

"But he was dead!" Amy exclaimed.

"Like I said, he must have lied," Avalon rolled her eyes and moved down the remaining steps as well. "That's like one of his rules, remember?"

"No, he was dead, we saw him," Amy insisted, but Avalon shook her head in refusal.

"Who told you that?" River joined them, looking calm as ever despite having blasted a Dalek to pieces seconds ago.

"He did."

"Rule one. The Doctor lies."

"Told you," Avalon told Amy with a hint of triumph lacing her tone. "So, where's the Dalek?"

"It died," she answered darkly and entered the exhibit hall leading to the Pandorica room.

They could all see the Doctor sitting inside the Pandorica box, unconscious they assumed. They ran into the room and River went straight to the Doctor to check what exactly he'd been doing.

"Why did he tell us he was dead?" Rory frowned, not appreciating they'd been crudely lied to.

"A diversion," Avalon sighed, "Told you," she looked at them, "How is it that I figured that out in less than ten minutes when you've been here longer than I have? As long as the Dalek was chasing us, he could work down here."

"Doctor, can you hear me?" River was asking the Doctor, clapping his face repeatedly to get a response form him. "What were you doing?"

"What's happening?" Rory looked up at the small window above them when the room became lighted with yellow and orange from the 'fireball' in the sky.

"Reality's collapsing," River called to them, "It's speeding up. Look at this room."

The trio looked around and saw every single display was empty.

"Where did everything go?" Amy frowned.

"History is being erased. Time is running out," River sighed and focused on the Doctor again, "Doctor, what were you doing? Tell us! Doctor?"

"Big... Bang... Two," he slowly came around.

"The Big Bang is the beginning of the universe," Avalon relayed, "Is that supposed to be like the 'reboot' thing you were talking about?" he slowly nodded, "Is that even possible?" she frowned.

"Oh!" the answer came from River, "Oh, that's good," she started to smile.

"What?" Amy asked.

"The TARDIS is still burning. It's exploding at every point in history. If you threw the Pandorica into the explosion, right into the heart of the fire..."

"Then what?"

"Then let there be light. The light from the Pandorica would explode everywhere at once, just like he said."

"That would work?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, "That would bring everything back?"

"A restoration field, powered by an exploding TARDIS, happening at every moment in history. Oh, that's brilliant. It might even work!" River let a small laugh and took out the Doctor's screwdriver, "He's wired the vortex manipulator to the rest of the box."

"Why?" Rory asked.

"So he can take it with him," River realized and looked back at the Doctor, still barely unconscious, "He's going to fly the Pandorica into the heart of the explosion."

~ 0 ~

After being sent out of the Pandorica room so the Doctor could finish his work in the Pandorica box, the human faction started witnessing even more displays being emptied out by collapsing time. While Amy and Rory comforted each other, Avalon stood to the side in deep thought. Eventually, Rory noticed and felt like he could nearly guess why she was so silent and thoughtful.

"Ava," Rory quietly called, leaving Amy for just a moment. He knew that the Doctor said not to tell Avalon anything but she had the right to know, and he wouldn't feel right about hiding poor Lena from her twin sister.

Avalon looked over at him, "I still can't believe you're back," she admitted with a small smile.

"You and me both," he agreed and they shared a small laugh. He glanced at Avalon for a minute, debating one last time whether or not he should go through with it and tell her the truth.

"You know, now I understand why my journal had those empty lines in the middle of my writing," she beat him to it, "I kept thinking and thinking of why I would do something like that: leave blank lines in my pages. I knew I was forgetting something and that something turned out to be _you_ ," she looked at him again, her smile brightening, "Why Vincent said he was sorry for my losses," Rory gave him a look for that, "I met Vincent Van Gogh a while back. I also met Zelda Saye Fitzgerald. I knew I forgot something...and I guess my mind was trying to give me some clues."

"But...wait a minute," Rory also caught another word, "Van Gogh said ' _losses_ '," he watched Avalon stiffen at that, knowing she'd finally realized it too, "Meaning you didn't...lose just... _me_."

"No, but..." Avalon blinked, "The blank lines...those were because of you..." she turned to him, "...they had to be..." but as she studied the face Rory had she knew he was hiding something from her, "...Rory? What's going on?"

"Ava, I'm really sorry," Rory sighed.

"What's going on?" Avalon asked again and when she didn't get an answer she walked up to Amy, "Amy, do you know what Rory's been hiding?"

"What?" Amy raised an eyebrow, "No, I just...I just got him back," she reminded, "How could I know a secret of his?"

"Rory Arthur Williams you tell me what's going on right now!" Avalon stomped her foot and glared at her plastic best friend.

Rory turned to both gingers and took a deep breath, the words he was about to speak would surely cause some problems...

~ 0 ~

River emerged from the Pandorica room to gather two gingers but instead found Avalon with red eyes, barely able to stand, and Amy near to tears. River marched up to them and with hands on her hip, "What's going on here?"

"It's my fault," Rory sighed, unhappy with the results but knowing that in a long run it was better.

River shook her head, "Amy, Avalon, the Doctor wanted to talk to both of you, but..."

Avalon didn't wait for her to finish and stalked into the Pandorica room.

"Avalon!" Amy tried to go after her but was kept back by Rory, "We can't-"

"Just...just let her talk first," he pleaded, "She deserves to know."

"What happened?" River questioned again.

"Fine," Amy huffed and moved up to River, "Why don't you tell us what happens here instead?" she said to River, "Bang Two? What happens to us?"

River sighed, "We all wake up where we ought to be. None of this ever happens and we don't remember it."

"River... tell me he comes back, too."

"The Doctor will be the heart of the explosion," River looked down.

"So?"

"So all the cracks in time will close, but he'll be on the wrong side...trapped in the never-space, the void between the worlds. All memory of him will be purged from the universe. He will never have been born."

"Oh...that's it?" Amy swallowed hard, barely managing a sarcastic tone.

"I'm sorry," was all River could say.

~ 0 ~

Avalon gradually slowed down as she walked towards the Pandorica. The Doctor noticed her expression and knew it wasn't because of him, and the only other thing that could make her react like that would be...

"Her name was Lena," Avalon said quietly, her voice shaking with each step she took. "She was my twin sister and I...I can't even remember her," Avalon stopped before him, her eyes ready to spill fresh new tears, "Rory told me all about her and I can't remember anything."

"Subconsciously you did," he tried to help, "The pink hot chocolate, that was her favorite drink."

"Oh, goody, I remembered her favorite drink but not _her_ ," she gritted her teeth, "I _still_ can't remember her."

"It's not your fault, she never existed-"

"She _did_ ," she argued, "She did and she should exist. Rory's back, why isn't she?"

"Rory was a miracle, a memory print in Amy's head," he sadly smiled, "But, after this, you're going to see Lena again."

"How?"

"Big Bang," he whispered with a small cheerful tone, actually making Avalon chuckle a little.

"How, though?"

"He's going to take the Pandorica into the exploding TARDIS and seal every crack up while leaving himself stuck on the wrong side," Amy entered the room.

" _What_?" Avalon frowned, looking at Amy as she joined her.

"Such a 'you' thing to do by the way," Amy looked at the Doctor with a sigh.

"But you can't do that," Avalon shook her head at him, "I want Lena back but...I don't want to lose you either."

"Well, isn't that nice to hear," the Doctor smiled, "Am I finally a friend?"

"What?" Avalon laughed in a confused manner, "What kind of question is that? You were always a friend. I mean, you were Amy's 'imaginary friend'," the two gingers shared a moment of laughter at their childhood ideas, "And you were the fairy tale man for me. I, actually, um, wrote short stories about you..." she blushed of embarrassment.

"Yeah, I read them," Amy muttered.

Avalon's mouth dropped open, " _What!_?" she turned to Amy, "How dare you!"

"We were ten, give it up," Amy rolled her eyes.

"Well," Avalon huffed and crossed her arms, "And here I thought I had friends who respected privacy."

Amy rolled her eyes again, "Yeah, yeah, _ten years old_ ," she emphasized their young age then sighed, "Anyways," she looked at the Doctor again, "What Avalon was trying to say was that we don't want to lose you."

"And I'm touched, I really am," the Doctor nodded. At least he knew that he'd completed his little challenge with Avalon and became a true friend; and, he felt very happy about it, "However, there are some things you've yet to see. Example number one, Amy: your house was too big. That big, empty house. And just you."

"And Aunt Sharon," she reminded, seeing no relevancy in it.

"Where were your mum and dad? Where was... everybody who lived in that big house?"

"I lost my Mum and Dad."

"How? What happened to them? Where did they go?"

"I... I don't..." Amy began faltering the more she thought about her parents. She looked at Avalon for help, seeing as they'd known each other since they were in diapers nearly, "...Avalon?"

"I don't, I don't remember," Avalon shrugged as she thought as well, "I just remember..." she closed her eyes, focusing hard.

"It's OK. Don't panic," the Doctor said to them, "It's not your fault."

"I don't even remember," Amy gasped at the realization.

"There was a crack in time in the wall of your bedroom and it's been eating away at your life for a long time now. Amy Pond, all alone in that house. The girl who didn't make sense. How could I resist?"

"How could I just forget?"

"Nothing is ever forgotten, not really. But you have to try."

"No, something is still wrong," Avalon said quietly in distant thought. Seeing her expression told the Doctor what she was thinking about. When her eyes met his, she spoke the words that he'd been thinking about for months. "How did I subconsciously remember things I was meant to forget? The hot chocolate...the fact I was _aware_ that I'd forgotten something."

"A challenge I couldn't complete, I'm afraid," the Doctor lamented.

"Maybe because you're from the future...?" Amy offered the idea but it just made Avalon sigh.

"Sounds more because I'm a freak."

Before either could correct her, the ground started shaking underneath them. River ran into the room urgently, "Doctor! It's speeding up!"

Amy returned the Doctor's screwdriver into his pocket and sighed.

"There's going to be a very big bang. Big Bang Two," the Doctor began, "Try and remember your family and they'll be there. And, maybe even remember my baby sister?"

"How can I remember them if they never existed?" Amy looked at Avalon, "You'd be better at this than me!"

"You're special, Amy," the Doctor assured, "That crack in your wall, all that time, the universe pouring into your head. You brought Rory back...you can bring everyone else back, too. You just remember, and they'll be there."

" _You_ won't," Amy countered, taking Avalon's hand and backing away from him.

"That's not any better," Avalon added.

"You'll have your families back," he smiled, "You won't need your imaginary friend nor a fairy tale man any more. Avalon Reynolds, Amy Pond... crying over me, eh? Guess what?"

"What?" both gingers sniffled.

"Gotcha!"

The Pandorica closed and began glowing until it launched into the sky.

"Back! Get back!" River pulled both gingers into a corner of the room with Rory, all gathering together as the shaking increased. A couple seconds later River received a message from the Doctor in her communicator, "It's from the Doctor."

"What does it say?" Avalon peered over.

"" _Geronimo_."

The room was taken over by a bright, white light...

~ 0 ~

Amy fluttered her eyes open to a bright morning. She slowly sat up and looked around her room, looking around the mess she had in it with her imaginary friend dolls and drawings. She really ought to clean that up seeing as she was about to get...

"Morning!" her mother, Tabetha, came into the room holding a breakfast tray in hand.

Amy, startled, looked at her with wide eyes, "You're my mum. Oh, my God, you're my mum."

"Well, of course I'm your mum. What's the matter with you?" Tabetha shook off her daughter's oddness for the moment, "And this is your breakfast, which your father made, so feel free to tip it out of the window if it's an atrocity. Downstairs, 10 minutes? Big day!" she cheered and hurried on out.

"Of course she's my mum. Why is that surprising?" Amy whispered to herself before jumping out of bed.

She ran down the stairs towards the living room where she was hearing a set of low mutters. It was her...father.

"Ah, Amelia. I fear I may have been using the same joke book as the best man," Augustus Pond turned to her with genuine concern.

"You're my tiny little dad!" Amy laughed and hurried up to hug him.

"Amelia, why are you behaving as if you've never seen us before?" Tabetha entered the room with confusion.

"I don't know. It's just..." but Amy laughed again and hugged them both.

~ 0 ~

Rory was brushing his teeth when he heard his phone ringing. He quickly answered, "Hello!"

"Do you feel like you've forgotten something really important?" Amy got straight to the point.

"Yep!"

"Do you feel like there's a great big thing in your head, and you feel like you should remember it, but you can't?"

"Yep!"

"Are you just saying yes cos you're scared of me?"

"Yep."

Amy rolled her eyes, "I love you."

"Yep," Rory shook his head, "I mean, I love you too!"

"I'm going to call Avalon, she'll understand!"

"Yep," Rory nodded, still with no idea what the conversation was about.

Amy shook her head and laughed before hanging up. She hung up and redialed again for the Reynolds', she would've dialed for Avalon's cellphone, but...she'd been punished.

She and Mel needed to stop getting into so much trouble.

~ 0 ~

"Hello?" a young, fourteen year old boy answered the phone.

"Gavin? Is Avalon around?" Amy asked.

"Yeah," Gavin picked at an orange strand of hair refusing to stay off his forehead. He kept blowing on it, prompting Amy to snap his name out.

"Gavin, pass the phone to Avalon!"

"Aren't you getting married?"

"Well, not if people won't take my phone call serious and just talk to me!" huffed Amy over the line.

Gavin pulled the phone from his ear and made a face. "You're weird, Amy. AVALON!"

~ 0 ~

Avalon was still in her sleeping clothes with a robe on when her brother called for her. But she ignored it as she quietly tip-toed towards a room with an open door. She poked her head inside and saw a small brunette standing in front of a mirror with a salmon-pink dress on.

"Avalon, what is it?" Lena Reynolds turned to her with her hands on her hips.

"Lena!" Avalon laughed and rushed up to hug her, "Oh my god!"

"What...what is it?" Lena blinked with genuine confusion, still hugging her twin back however.

"You're my twin!" Avalon pulled away to look Lena over, "My smaller, calmer twin!"

Lena laughed of confusion and shrugged, "Guess...I am," she looked at Avalon with concern, "Are you alright?" she put a hand on Avalon's forehead, "You haven't been writing too much in the journal of yours? I told you to go to sleep early last night!"

"Not this time," Avalon chuckled.

"Avalon!" Gavin ran inside the room holding the landline phone in his hand, "It's Amy!"

"Amy?" Avalon looked at Lena, "Isn't she getting married in about two hours?"

Lena nodded, "That was the rumor."

Avalon laughed and hugged her again, taking the phone and rushing off to her own room. Gavin frowned and looked at his other big sister, "What's wrong with her? She's weirder than usual."

"Don't be rude," Lena turned him around and walked him out of her room. "Now go finish getting ready."

"Yeah, yeah," the boy rolled his eyes and went on.

~ 0 ~

"Don't you feel like there's something missing?" Amy was asking Avalon while the ginger-twin ran a hand through her fairy tale books in her bookshelf.

"I get you," Avalon confessed as she pulled out one of her books, that of Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault, "Something at the tip of your tongue but never there," she skimmed through the pages of her book. Though it was French, she'd forced herself to learn what was on the pages.

"Yeah," Amy sighed, glad to know that once again Avalon understood her, "But no one understands!"

Avalon scoffed, "They all think you're crazy, Amy. I wouldn't insist to them."

"Yeah...I should go," Amy sighed again, "As always, thanks for understanding."

"No worries, see you later," Avalon hung up and chucked the phone to her bed.

She closed her book and stared at it for another moment, understanding completely what Amy had been talking about. She'd had the same sensations but being who she was no one ever believed her in the town. For that, she preferred to talk about it either to Amy and/or write it in her journal. She glanced at a small pile of papers on her desk and sighed. She would've stuck them in her journal but her journal was filled up now, no more space for anything...and she wasn't going to buy a new one. It was the last thing she had of her mother after all.

Instead, she returned her book to the shelf and headed for her salmon-pink dress that hung on her closet door, a maid of honor didn't get ready in just ten minutes, no!

~ 0 ~

The Reynolds sat in a table not too far from the bride and groom (and their families) in the reception room. They'd just finished hearing the speech of Rory's best man and were about to listen to Amy's father, Augustus, speech.

"Sorry, everyone. I'll be another two minutes. I'm just reviewing certain aspects," Augustus apologized and sat down to review his speech, the rest of the guests laughing at his actions.

"Your father, Amelia, will be the absolute death of me. Unless, of course, I strike pre-emptively," Tabetha sighed.

Amy laughed at their antics but stopped when she saw a woman with brown hair walking by the windows of the reception, River, unbeknownst to Amy, and Amy stood up.

"Amy? You OK?" Rory looked up at her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm..." Amy shook her head and sat down again, "...fine."

"Right. Er... You're crying," Rory pointed.

"So I am. Why am I doing that?"

"Because you're happy, probably. Happy Mrs Rory. Happy, happy, happy."

Amy rubbed her face again as she felt more tears, "No. I'm sad. I'm really, really sad."

"Great," Rory sighed, not the way to start a marriage!

"Why am I sad?" Amy wondered then noticed a book in front of Rory, "What's that?"

"Oh, er, someone left it for you. A woman," Rory handed her the book.

"But what is it?" Amy took the book and studied it, putting more thought into it than Rory had apparently.

"It's a book."

"It's _blank_ ," Amy showed him a couple pages that were indeed blank.

"It's a present," Rory thought he was stating the obvious here.

"But why?"

"Well, you know the old saying. The old... wedding... thing. Huh?" Rory tried to make sense of it but failed miserably, "Amy?"

Augustus stood up with an apologetic smile, "Ready now. Sorry about that. Last-minute adjustments to certain aspects. Now then, it hardly seems a year..."

Amy didn't pay attention to what was going on as she was beginning to remember things...things she had no idea what they were. She studied a nearby guest wearing a red bowtie and then another guest with blue braces. Amy felt a tear stroll down her face and it fell to the book's cover.

"Shut up, Dad!" Amy abruptly stood up, ending her father's speech.

"Amy?" Rory reached for her hand.

"Amelia?" Augustus frowned.

"Sorry, but shut up, please!" Amy begged them as she took a deep breath, "There's someone missing...someone important. Someone so, _so_ important."

"Amy, what's wrong?" Rory moved to stand but she shook her head and continued to talk.

"No one understands, except Avalon," Amy pointed at her ginger friend, all eyes moving to Avalon in a snap, "I had an imaginary friend when I was kid," and then went the sighs of her parents, "And my friend Avalon, she wrote about him."

"And it was meant to be a _secret_ ," Avalon said through gritted teeth, giving Amy a look that said to shut up.

"The raggedy Doctor," Amy insisted, "My raggedy Doctor. And Avalon's fairy tale man, but he wasn't imaginary. He was real. You know he was," Amy looked around, more determined than ever, "I remember you! I remember! I brought the others back, I can bring you home, too. Raggedy man, I remember you, and you are late for my wedding!"

In the silence around the room, Rory and the twins noticed their glasses tinkling against each other as the ground underneath shook, the chandelier swaying above.

"I found you. I found you in words, like you knew I would," Amy continued, not about to give up, especially when the wind started picking and the faint noises of the TARDIS began to grow audible, "That's why you told me the story...the brand new, ancient blue box. Oh, clever. Very clever."

"Amy, what is it?" Rory, still confused, looked all around.

"Avalon..." Lena whispered, slightly frightened.

"It's the fairy tale man," Avalon began smiling as the TARDIS materialized in the middle of the dance floor. "It's my fairy tale man..."

"Something old. Something new. Something borrowed. Something blue," Amy laughed.

"It's the Doctor!" Rory remembered now as the box was now fully visible, unaware that Amy had climbed over their table and was heading for the TARDIS, "How did we forget the Doctor? I was plastic. He was the stripper at my stag." He saw the looks he got for the last bit and added, quietly, "Long story."

Lena blinked when she started to remember as well, "I died," she frowned.

"I met Mary Costa," Avalon recalled. "And Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald."

" _What_?" their father, who sat across them, raised his eyebrows at the knowledge he was hearing.

Both sisters looked back at him with sweet smiles, "Nothing, daddy," they said together.

"You're both weird," Gavin muttered, earning himself identical glares from his sisters.

Amy was knocking, or pounding, on the TARDIS doors calling for the alien inside, "OK, Doctor. Did I surprise you this time?"

The door opened and out came the Doctor, dressed in a top hat with a white tie and tails, a large, loose white scarf draped over his shoulders, "Er, yeah. Completely astonished. Never expected that. How lucky I happened to be wearing this old thing," he stepped out for everyone to see him, "Hello, everyone. I'm Amy's imaginary friend, but I came anyway," he shook hands with a flabbergasted Augustus Pond, "Oh, and a fairy tale man," he waved at the Reynolds.

"You absolutely, definitely may kiss the bride," Amy strode for him.

"Amy!" the twins exclaimed as they stood up from their seats.

The Doctor placed a finger on Amy's lips and grinned, "Amelia! From now on, I shall be leaving the... kissing duties to the brand new Mr Pond," he shook Rory's hand as the man came to join them.

"No, I'm not Mr Pond. That's not how it works," Rory began to argue.

"Yeah, it is," the Doctor nodded.

"Yeah, it is," Rory mumbled with acceptance.

"Big brother!" Lena rushed up to hug the Doctor.

The Doctor, upon remembering her (thankfully rewritten) fate, hugged her back instantaneously, "Oh thank goodness you're okay now," he kissed her head, "And happy, and...gorgeous by the way," Lena chuckled, "Alive and happy, just like you should be."

"I can't believe I forgot about everything," Lena pulled away and looked at Avalon, "I called you crazy for all those stories you wrote."

"Is there anyone who didn't read my stories?" Avalon huffed.

"Me," Rory raised his hand, succeeding in making her laugh.

"And me," the Doctor added with a cheeky grin, "Though maybe I could take a small peek...?"

" _No_ ," she said, though the Doctor swore he could see a small blush on her cheeks that made him even more curious about those stories, "But I'm glad to have you back," she moved on up and hugged him.

"Right then, everyone," he cleared his throat and pulled away from her to look back at the guests, "I'll move my box. You're going to need the space," he rushed into the TARDIS and looked back, "I only came for the dancing," he smirked and went off.

The remaining group looked at each others with smiles as they felt the wind of the TARDIS dematerializing hit them, simply happy to be together again.

~ 0 ~

Later that night, each companion got to see just how good of a dancer the Doctor was. Amy was up first and she was laughing all over the dance floor as she was with the Doctor, dancing to Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", "You're terrible!" she accused, "That is embarrassing!"

After that the Doctor started showing off his 'moves' for the children who were eager to learn how to dance like him, "That's it. That's good. Keep it loose."

"Teach me!" Lena came over to join them, the Doctor more than happy to show his baby sister just how to dance.

~ 0 ~

The music had slowed down and provided the best setting for the new couple. Most everyone was at the dance floor, accompanying the moment... almost everyone. The Doctor was happily watching his friends dance when Lena slowly came up to him.

"Big brother, can I talk to you for a second?" the seriousness in her face indicated to the Doctor there was something deeply bothering her.

"Of course," he agreed and followed her to a more quiet place.

~ 0 ~

Avalon would've enjoyed the dancing if someone that day had bothered to take her out. Since that failed, she decided to leave the party for a moment just to get some fresh air. The ballroom was a bit stuffy anyways. As she walked out of the ballroom, however, she started to hear weird noises from a distance. It sounded like a gurgle, actually, but not a regular gurgle. She would've ignored it but she also got the feeling that something was watching her.

"Hello?" she called out. She stopped when she heard a crunching of leaves on the ground. "If this is one of you stupid kids trying to scare me, I _will_ get you," she warned and stepped into a small sitting area. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw not a child, but a gray alien in a black suit. "O-o-oh my God…" she stumbled back a couple steps and hit a tree's bark. "Wh-what are you…?"

The alien tilted is large head to the side, raising one of its tentacle-like hands and pointing one of its four fingers at her. "You tried to hide from the Silence but we have found you," its raspy voice filled the area.

"D-doctor!" she started to call out.

The lone creature directed its other hand to the bench where a rolled up paper sat. Avalon followed the gaze and, unfortunately, forgot.

"Avalon?" she heard the Doctor call her name and she quickly turned around.

"Avalon are you out here?" Lena then called.

Avalon blinked slowly and rubbed the side of her head. She looked around and spotted the rolled up letter again on the bench. She walked over to it and picked it up. Without hesitation, she ripped off the small red ribbon keeping it folded and scanned its content.

"There you are!" Lena's exclaim startled the ginger but by that time she had already finished reading the letter.

"Was it my imagination or were you calling my name?" the Doctor was making a face as he tried to define whether or not the call had been real.

Avalon looked at them with a little smile. "Mm, I'm curious to see what dreams you've been having of me, fairy tale man."

The Doctor sputtered with a red face, making her laugh. "That's not funny!"

"Ahem," Lena calmly cleared her throat. "Avalon, there was something we wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh? The both of you?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, a suspicious swirl sitting in her eyes.

Lena nodded her head. "Mhm. It's actually quite simple, really. I'm not going to travel with the Doctor anymore." Avalon blinked pretty face at first, surprised by the sudden decision. "But I want _you_ to continue doing so."

"Um...excuse me?" Avalon turned her attention to the Doctor to see what he had to say on the matter.

"Lena's good at making points, Ava," the Doctor cleared his throat, prepared to receive snaps and shouts for agreeing with the choice Lena made.

"Sorry, the both of you want me to leave my sister behind? Why on Earth would I ever do that!?"

"Because it's high time you stopped taking care of me and start living your life," Lena had the answer within the second. She was adamant this time to get the point across Avalon's head. "I'm sick, yes, but it is a controlled illness and I have doctors to take care of me. You have basically put your life on hold for me and the rest of our family and that stops today. We are all grown up, Avalon. Time to let go."

Avalon was nothing short but stunned to hear Lena say all that. "I don't...I...Lena?"

Lena raised her head, clearly determined. "I'm not going to travel anymore because I don't feel like it's where I belong."

"Even though I've said she's always welcomed," the Doctor added and Lena nodded in acknowledgment.

"I just...it's not my place," Lena reiterated. "But it's yours, Avalon. I know it is. So you go and you travel...and send me a postcard every now and then."

Avalon was hurt, of course she was, and Lena saw it. The ginger saddened up as a consequence and when she spoke next her words were apologetic. "I didn't mean to annoy you, Lena-"

"Avalon, it's not that-"

"I just don't want to lose you like we lost Mum," Avalon lowered her arms still holding the letter she found. "I love you Lena, and I never want anything to happen to you."

Lena smiled and walked up to her sister to give her the biggest hug possible. "I know that, silly. You have a very big heart and from now on I'm going to make sure that its content. Truly content." She pulled away to meet Avalon's gaze. "I talked to Dad about it and he's on board."

"I guess there's no choice then, huh?" Avalon lightly chuckled. "Is that alright with you, Doctor?"

The man was already smiling. "I have a few places we could try…"

The idea of travelling made Avalon swell with excitement. It was something she'd always wanted to do but because of her family's situation she never got to live out. Now, now it was different, but there was also something else that might be pushing her to accept Lena's command.

"Okay then," she finally agreed out loud. "But now I'd like a word with you, Doctor."

The Doctor's face fell and his entire body stiffened. "Am I in trouble?"

"Well, you blew up the world but then put it back together so no, you're not. But I just need to tell you something."

Lena was all smiling because her plan worked. "I'll leave you then!" she happily returned to the ballroom.

Avalon watched her sister disappear into the building before deciding to speak again. Without a word, she held out the folded letter to the Doctor.

His eyes flickered from her to the paper and in no time was confused. "Am I...am I supposed to take it?" she nodded her head. "It's for me?"

"Uh, no, it's for me...apparently," Avalon watched him finally take it and unroll it.

' _Dear Avalon, I know this is strange and probably confusing but it is imperious that you listen to me. You must remain with the Doctor for your own safety. Bad things are coming, and they will be coming for you and all your friends_.'

The Doctor's mouth closed and opened several times, much to Avalon's amusement, as he failed to understand where this message got off giving such an obscure warning. "Where did you get this?"

"I just found it on the bench!" Avalon gestured to the dusty, white bench behind her. "It was right there!"

"Did you see anybody, then?"

"Does it _look_ like I saw anybody?"

The Doctor frowned and rolled the letter back up. "Okay, well, we can't jump to any conclusions about this. It could just be someone playing a trick."

"It's got to be," Avalon crossed her arms. "I mean, it doesn't make sense, does it?"

The Doctor could tell that despite her calm exterior, there was an inkling of fear starting inside her. "Just...for the time being, I think it _is_ best if you come along with me."

"But what if it's not?" she asked, her eyes briefly flickering to the ballroom. "What if they come for my family?"

"Look, by the looks of it, their main point was to get to you...we're just along for the ride," the Doctor did not make her feel better and he knew it. He walked up to her and comfortingly rubbed her arms. "We'll figure if this is just a trick or not. Trust me, okay?"

"Okay," she nodded. It wasn't a very difficult thing to trust in him, after all. She felt safe with him no matter what.

The Doctor smiled at her and startled her by taking her hand. "Would you like to dance?" It didn't appear that she believed him because she looked around like he'd been asking someone else. "I meant _you_ , red," the Doctor laughed. "I've danced with everyone except for you...though Rory didn't seem to like it very much."

Avalon snickered. "I bet he didn't."

"Complete the set, then?"

Avalon's smile faded a little as she sighed. "Um, listen…" she slowly took her hand from his. "I think it's no secret that a lot of Amy's family disapproves of me, um...I'd rather not be the center of their attention."

"But I thought Avalon Reynolds just didn't care?" the Doctor playfully scrutinized her face.

"I don't," she agreed, "But this is Amy and Rory's day. I'm not ruining it just to make a point."

"C'mon, I think they know you enough not to care either. Dance?" he took her hand again. "Don't worry, I can teach you how."

That made Avalon laugh a genuine, teasing laugh. It made the Doctor smile as he pulled them towards the ballroom.

Since it was a slow dance, Avalon found herself a bit nervous as she took position for a dance. She'd danced to regular music in clubs with Mels and Amy, (when they'd sneak in with fake ID's), but never actual slow dances. Like she said before, no one ever asked her for fear of talks of the people and so she'd never had the chance for a proper dance.

"I don't..." she became even more nervous as she thought more on it.

"I don't hear any talks," the Doctor whispered to her as they started to sway to the music.

"Give them a couple of minutes, they'll come up with something," she kept her gaze down, "They did for you earlier."

"Oh, I bet they did," the Doctor smirked, not at all perturbed with it, "But I was having fun, so I don't care in the least."

Avalon looked up and smiled a bit, teasing actually, "You did look ridiculous, though. I just want that to be clear."

"Ridiculously _fun_ , though," he corrected.

She rolled her eyes, "Call it whatever you like, but it was ridiculous. Kids are going to be dancing that stupid dance you taught them for months!"

"I'll be glad to give them more lessons."

"No you will not," she shook her head, chuckling to herself.

"Look at that, you've forgotten your nervousness and the 'talks' of the people," the Doctor 'discreetly' smirked about it.

"Guess I did," she acknowledged, "You're good at distracting, you know. And not that bad of a slow dancer, I'm shocked."

"Well, there's a lot you don't know about me either," he tapped her nose and smiled back.

"Guess I don't..." she acknowledged it without a thought. A couple moments passed in silence until Avalon looked up at him and smiled, "I never said..."

"Said what?" the Doctor blinked, genuinely confused.

"You did impress me. Since the first trip I took with you...you got me," she smiled so genuinely the Doctor had no idea what to do nor say. There was a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. "I am _so_ impressed by you, Doctor."

"I...thank you..." the Doctor cleared his throat, more awkwardly than he would have liked. Why couldn't he get himself together!?

"And, I'd also like to thank you, for real this time, for giving me the opportunity to travel with my sister."

The Doctor nodded his response and smiled, "A chance to travel with the Ponds and Reynolds? How can I possibly give that up?"

She smiled without realizing it and moved to rest her head on his shoulder, never even thinking about the murmurs of the guests anymore. She felt quite content.

~ 0 ~

Upon seeing the Reynolds regathering for a final talk on what would be happening over the next couple months, the Doctor took opportunity to quietly slip out of the reception room. He wanted get back to the TARDIS to get a little bit of work done with the mysterious enemy that had taken over the entire box when Avalon and River were inside. He figured it would be good to get a head-start before Avalon joined him. He admitted that he was a bit excited to have a companion that would be sticking around for a while. He was certain the Ponds would want some time along as newlyweds anyways.

"Did you dance?" a voice startled him out of his thoughts. He turned around to see River standing a couple feet from him, "Well, you always dance at weddings, don't you?"

"You tell me," he challenged.

"Spoilers," she smirked.

He sighed and pulled out her journal then handed it back to her, "The writing's all back, but I didn't peek."

"Thank you."

The Doctor also took out her vortex manipulator for her, "Are you married, River?" he suddenly wondered.

"Are you asking?" she mused as she put the manipulator on her wrist.

"Yes."

"Yes."

He blinked, "No, hang on. Did you think I was asking you to marry me, o- o-or asking if you were married?"

"Idiot," she murmured and sighed, "Someone's not gonna be very happy if she learns about this."

"Who?"

"Spoilers," she shrugged.

The Doctor sighed, "River...who are you?"

"You're going to find out very soon now," she conceded, swallowing hard, "And I'm sorry, but that's when everything changes."

She reached for her manipulator but the Doctor stopped her with a call. He pulled out the folded letter Avalon had found and waved it in the air. "Did you write this?"

For a second, there was a brief falter in River, but if it had been real it'd been wiped away in the next second. "Me? Messing with the timeline? You told me never to."

"River…" the Doctor was not playing jokes.

"I must be going," River waved and activated her manipulator, disappearing in a flash.

"Nah," he shrugged it off and unlocked the TARDIS, stepping inside and dancing his way up to the console.

He didn't get much work started when he heard the doors reopening and looked up to see Amy walking in, "Oi! Where are you off to?" she called, "Finished dancing with Avalon yet?" she smirked.

"Shut up," the Doctor pointed without looking at her.

"Oh c'mon, we haven't even had a snog in the shrubbery yet," she teased just as the doors re-opened.

"Amy!" Rory gave the call.

"Just one last tease," she laughed.

"That'll be the day," Avalon entered behind Rory, with Lena, "The day Amy Pond, er Williams, stops flirting will be the end of the world."

"Oi, says the biggest flirt in the universe," Amy scoffed.

"Am not," Avalon frowned.

"Are too!"

"Anyways," Lena covered Avalon's mouth while Rory did the same to Amy, "Big brother, I asked my dad if I could take one trip with you and he said it was fine. Can I come?"

"My baby sister is asking if she can come?" the Doctor let out a small laugh, "C'mon, Lena, you can stay forever if you'd like!"

Lena smiled softly, "No, I think I'll be fine with one trip," she nodded.

Lena made it clear now that she was not content with the traveling about and danger. It just wasn't her style. Of course, it didn't mean she wanted to give it up completely. She'd grown to love the Doctor as a true 'big brother' and never wanted to give him up. She was simply going to take trips sporadically.

"So, where exactly are we going?" Avalon pushed Lena's hand from her mouth.

"Was actually planning on getting some work done..." the Doctor began but Rory cut him off.

"You just saved the whole of space and time. Take the evening off. Maybe a bit of tomorrow."

"I'm with Rory," Amy nodded.

"Space and time isn't safe yet. The TARDIS exploded for a reason. Something drew the TARDIS to this particular date, and blew it up," the Doctor reminded and headed over to the ringing phone, "Why? And why now? The silence, whatever it is, is still out there, and I have to...Excuse me a moment," he answered the call, "Hello. Oh! Hello. I'm sorry, this is a very bad line. No, but that's not possible. She was sealed into the Seventh Obelisk. I was at the prayer meeting. Well, no, I get that it's important. An Egyptian goddess loose on the Orient Express…in space! Give us a mo," he looked up at the group, "Sorry, something's come up. This will have to be goodbye. Ava, you ready to go?"

"Let's see, I've got my twin, my best friend and my flirty friend," Avalon nodded, "Definitely ready."

"Off we go!" Lena cheered and pulled Avalon up to the console, "With newlyweds, that'll be interesting."

"And fun," Rory added, making them all laugh.

The Doctor looked at them all and beamed, picking up the phone again and speaking into it, "Don't worry about a thing, Your Majesty. We're on our way," and the TARDIS was off for the newest of adventures.

* * *

 **Author's Note** :

Sooooo we've got one more chapter before we finish this story and we can move onto season 6! You guys ready for that one? There are a lot of things coming!


	17. The Ghosts of Christmas

"I'm not doing it," Avalon crossed her arms as she peered down the chimney of a rather large house, ignoring the pouting Time Lord beside her.

"But it's Christmas!" he sighed in exasperation, gesturing to the chimney that was just _begging_ to be climbed into.

"Yes, and I'm not Santa Claus," Avalon snapped, "I am going to take the front door like a proper person," she headed back to the TARDIS when Lena stepped out.

"Guys, Amy and Rory are pretty distressed up in that ship of theirs, what are you both doing here?"

They'd recently gotten a distress call from the newlywed Ponds that the cruise ship the Doctor had brought them to for their honeymoon had entered some sort of problem and the ship was actually going to crash if the clouds in the sky weren't cleared up. Apparently, the clouds were controlled by a family in the planet they found themselves in and for some reason the Doctor thought going down the chimney was the best way to enter the house of the man who controlled the sky.

Avalon felt ready to smack him for being such an...idiot.

"Your 'big brother' wants to play Santa Claus and go down that chimney," Avalon sighed.

"Cool!" Lena beamed and shut the doors of the TARDIS before running over to the Doctor, "Can I be one of those helping elves? I think they're so cute."

"No!" Avalon turned to them, "Lena, you can't jump into a chimney! Do you know how bad that'll be for your asthma?"

Lena rolled her eyes, "Here we go again," she muttered to the Doctor. She really thought Avalon was finally going to let go of her over-protectiveness and simply have _fun_. But apparently that was going to be something difficult by how it was looking at the moment.

"It's Christmas," the Doctor called back to Avalon, as if that alone was the perfect excuse, "C'mon, Ava," he hurried up to her, grinning widely, "You're fun, you're...a bit wreckless-"

"I am not!" she huffed and crossed her arms.

"But you're fun," he pointed, "And fun people _always_ take the fun route..." he nodded back to the chimney, "...c'mon, Ava," he poked her hair.

"Don't touch my hair," she closed her eyes with irritation as he continued to do just that, "Don't...Doctor, don't...don't...FINE!" she snapped and startled him enough to back off, "Fine, we'll...play Santa," she huffed again, "But I am _not_ gonna be the elf," she warned.

The Doctor hadn't listened as he'd grabbed her hand and brought them back to the chimney where he peeked again, hearing the loud voice of an elderly man coming below, "Geronimo," he smirked at the twins.

"Not with me you don't," Avalon took back her hand, "You go first and break our fall," she smiled sweetly, hoping that that would make the man realize he was being completely childish and ridiculous and would end up getting hurt.

It was like she didn't know the Doctor at all, thought Lena.

The Doctor clapped his hands together and jumped into the chimney.

"You have got to be kidding me," Avalon sighed while Lena giggled.

"Wonder if he got hurt," Lena peered inside.

"Probably," Avalon shrugged and sighed, "Well...better get it over with," she sighed again, unable to believe she was actually going to do this.

If she still had more space in her journal she would've written about this.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor had fallen down the chimney and managed to land with a perfect somersault on the floor. He stood up to greet an elderly man, a family of four with one daughter and son, and a couple of servants. He dusted the soot off himself and grinned, "Ah! Yes, blimey. Sorry! Christmas Eve on a rooftop, saw a chimney, my whole brain just went, "What the hell!" Don't worry, fat fella will be doing the rounds later. I'm just scoping out the general...chimney-ness. Yes," he leaned against the chimney and smirked when he started hearing the shrieks of certain twins.

Avalon came toppling down the chimney first and ended on the ground on her stomach. She groaned and lifted her head up to look at the Doctor, "I hate you.".

"Eek!" Lena came down right after and landed on her back, laughing to herself, "Okay, even I have to admit that was fun.".

The Doctor helped the twins up to their feet and turned them to the other people who were staring at then in awe and confusion.

"Sorry," Avalon noticed the others, "He wanted to play Santa," she shot the Doctor a look.

"Santa?" the little boy of the family spoke up.

"Father Christmas," Lena offered another alias, "Santa Claus?"

"Or, as I've always known him, Jeff," the Doctor shrugged.

"Shut up, you do _not_ know Santa Claus," Avalon nearly laughed but got paused when the Doctor gave her a smirk. Her eyes widened - _did_ he know Santa Claus?

"There's no such person as Father Christmas," the boy shook his head, cutting the silence.

"Oh, yeah?" the Doctor pulled out a small, black and white, photo and walked up to the family, "Me and Father Christmas, Frank Sinatra's hunting lodge, 1952. See him at the back with the blonde...Albert Einstein. The three of us together...hrrroom! Watch out! OK? Keep the faith, stay off the naughty list."

"No way!" Avalon snatched the picture right out of his hand to see for herself.

Lena sighed and tapped the Doctor on the shoulder. "We have our friends stuck in a crashing spaceship, remember?"

"Oh, yes," the Doctor quickly ran to a large panel filled with buttons of all kinds, "Now, what's this? And I love this, a big flashy lighty thing - that's what brought me here. Big flashy lighty things have got me written all over them. Not actually, but give me time and a crayon," he sat on the chair in front of the panel and swivels to face the others, "Now, this big flashy lighty thing is connected to the spire in your dome, yeah, and it controls the sky. Well, technically, it controls the clouds, which technically aren't clouds at all," he stood up and walked up to the elderly man, "Well, they're clouds of tiny particles of ice. Ice clouds, love that. Who's she?" he pointed at a silver chamber containing a woman inside.

"Nobody important," the elderly man, Kazran, dismissed.

"That's rude," Lena frowned.

"Do you know, in 900 years of time and space, I've never met anyone who wasn't important before," the Doctor agreed and headed back to the control panel to use the controls, "Now, this console is the key to saving that ship, or I'll eat my hat... if I had a hat. I'll eat someone's hat. Not someone who's using their hat-"

"How about you don't eat anyone's hat and we save Amy and Rory?" Lena raised an eyebrow, making him stop his rambles and see he was once again trailing off into another subject.

"You _can't_ know Santa Claus!" Avalon finally looked up from the picture she'd taken from the Doctor.

"I do," the Doctor returned and took back his picture. "And those controls aren't working!"

"The controls are isomorphic – one to one - they respond only to me," Kazran informed as he moved up to the Doctor.

"Oh, you fibber... Isomorphic! There's no such thing."

Kazran pulled a switch on the panel and shut down the machine to prove his statement. The Doctor went ahead and used the same switch only to see it wouldn't respond. With a frown, he pulled out his screwdriver and used it over the controls and Kazran. Once he checked the readings he blinked and looked at the others, "These controls are isomorphic!"

"The skies of this entire world are mine. My family tamed them, and now I own them," Kazran explained, getting more and more irritated with the Doctor.

"Tamed the sky? What does that mean?" Lena looked at Avalon, knowing that didn't sound very good for their situation.

"It means I'm Kazran Sardick," Kazran glared at them, "How can you possibly not know who I am?"

"Because we get bored easily," Avalon snapped, not liking the attitude the man had taken with her twin, "Point here is we need your help to save our friends."

"Make an appointment."

"I wasn't asking for your help, I was _informing_ you," Avalon crossed her arms.

"There are 4,003 people in a spaceship trapped in your cloud belt," the Doctor stepped in before the ginger went off with a full temper, "And what my friend is trying to say is that without your help, they're going to die."

"Yes," Kazran nodded.

"I think the correct answer is that you're going to help," Lena spoke up again.

"You don't have to let that happen," the Doctor agreed.

"I know, but I'm going to. Bye-bye. Bored now. ..Chuck!"

Avalon's mouth opened with horror, "You old-"

"I'd watch the tongue," the Doctor pointed at her before she finished her sentence.

"I'll take it under consideration," Avalon mock-glared at him as servants neared them from behind to get them out the door.

The Doctor managed to break free from the servants restraining him and rushed back to Kazran as the man had sat down on his chair, "Ooh, look at you, looking all tough now," the man mocked.

"There are 4,003 people I won't allow to die tonight. Do you know where that puts you?" the Doctor asked.

"Where?"

"4,004."

Kazran let out a small laugh, "Was that a sort of threat-y thing?"

"Whatever happens tonight, remember... you brought it on yourself."

"Yeah, yeah, right. ..Get him out of here," Kazran called to the servants again, "And next time, try and find me some funny poor people."

The Doctor was forced towards the doors along with the twins and family. The little boy took a lump of coal on the ground and threw it Kazran, hitting him on the head. Kazran stood up in anger and headed for the boy with a raised hand to strike with.

"No, stop, don't!" the Doctor struggled to free himself of the servants holding him back.

"Don't you dare! You leave him!" the father of the boy was in the same predicament as the Doctor.

After a moment, Kazran seemed to realize what he was about to do and lowered his hand, "Get him out of here! Get that foul-smelling family out of here! Out!"

Although the family was taken, the Doctor remained in the house, nodding for the twins to go ahead and leave as well. He waited a moment until Kazran noticed he was still there.

"What? What do you want?" Kazran rolled his eyes with irritation.

"A simple life," the Doctor shrugged, "But you didn't hit the boy."

"Well, I will next time!"

"No, you see, you won't. Now why? What am I missing?" the Doctor turned and started to focus on the details of the house.

"Get out! Get out of this house!" Kazran shooed him off to no avail.

"The chairs! Of course, the chairs! Stupid me, the chairs!" the Doctor smacked his own forehead.

"The chairs?"

"There's a portrait on the wall behind me. Looks like you, but it's too old, so it's your father. All the chairs are angled away from it," the Doctor gestured to each chair facing the portraits away, "Daddy's been dead for 20 years. But you still can't get comfortable where he can see you. There's a Christmas tree in the painting, but none in this house, on Christmas Eve. You're scared of him and you're scared of being like him. And good for you, you're not like him, not really. Do you know why?"

"Why?" Kazran blinked.

"Because you didn't hit the boy. Merry Christmas, Mr Sardick."

"I despise Christmas!"

"You shouldn't," the Doctor headed for the doors, "It's very you."

"It's what? What do you mean?"

"Halfway out of the dark," the Doctor mumbled as he finally left.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor and the twins were outside of Kazran's home where they spoke to Amy and Rory on the phone. Up in the ship things were growing more and more frantic and so it was no surprise that the first thing Amy said to the group below was, "Have you got a plan yet?"

"Yes, I do," the Doctor answered almost immediately, prompting Amy to respond with...

"Are you lying?"

"Yes, I am," the Doctor bowed his head.

"Don't treat me like an idiot," Amy snapped.

"OK, the good news. I've tracked the machine that unlocks the cloud belt. I could use it to clear you a flight corridor and you could land easily."

Avalon took the phone from the Doctor and scolded him, "Don't give false hope," she rolled her eyes and spoke into the phone, "He can't control the machine, Amy."

"Less great," Amy sighed.

"But I've met a man who can," the Doctor shouted into the phone, making Avalon flinch with his voice right beside her ear.

"Ah, well, there you go!" Amy cheered.

"And he hated you," Avalon reminded the Doctor who stuck his tongue out at her for ruining it again.

"Let me guess, he was being extra charming and clever?" Amy sighed.

"To the max," Avalon nodded even though Amy couldn't see it.

"Say what you want but all I heard is that you thought I was being charming and extra clever," the Doctor pointed at Avalon with a smirk.

"Oh don't get too riled up on that," Avalon looked at him with a smirk of her own, "That was my own Christmas present for you, one nice lie."

The Doctor frowned and pointed at her again when Lena cut in, "Alright, stop it," she looked at both with a scolding face before she took the phone from Avalon.

"Sir, sir," the father of the family they'd been thrown out with came towards the group.

"Hang on," the Doctor told the twins and met with the father, shaking his hand.

"I've never seen anybody stand up to Mr Sardick like that," the father remarked, "Bless you, sir, and merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas. Lovely," the Doctor nodded.

"But a bit busy," Avalon reminded.

"You'd better get inside, though," the father warned.

"Why?" Avalon asked as she looked around.

"The fog's thick tonight, and there's a fish warning."

At that, the trio gave the father an odd look, "The fish?" they asked together.

"Yeah," the father nodded, "You know what they're like when they get a bit hungry."

"Yeah, fish, I know fish," the Doctor looked at the twins, "Fish?" both sisters shrugged in confusion.

"It's all Mr Sardick's fault, I reckon. He always lets a few fish through the cloud layer when he's in a bad mood," the father shrugged, "Thank you. Bless you once again, sir," and with that he hurried on out.

"I'm sorry but did he just say fish?" Avalon scratched her head.

"OI!" they heard Amy's voice from the phone, "The Captain says we've got less than an hour. What should we be doing?"

"Uh, hang on..." Lena said to her while she and the other two looked around and saw small fish swimming around a streelight as if they were moths.

"Fish," the Doctor blinked.

"Fish that can swim in fog?" Avalon frowned, "That's a real thing?"

"How's that for impression Miss Reynolds?" the Doctor shot her back a smirk.

"Now I feel terrible for my lousy present," she playfully rolled her eyes.

He shook his head and stepped closer to the fish, "Now, why would people be frightened of you tiny little fellas?" he held up his hand and let the fish go near it, "Look at you, sweet little fishy-wishies. Mind you, fish in the fog, so the cloud cover... Ooh. Careful up there."

"Big brother, Amy's very adamant about being saved," Lena called, holding the phone from her ear as the ginger shouted over it, "And she says they've got less than an hour."

"I know,' the Doctor mumbled as he glanced at a nearby clock.

"Then best stop messing around with the 'fishy wishys' and get to work," Avalon clapped her hands to get the attention off the fish.

"Big Brother, it's Amy again," Lena sighed, her ear partially ringing from the loud tone Amy was taking with her.

"Oh alright, let's see," the Doctor started pacing as he thought, "Can't use the TARDIS, cos it can't lock on. So that ship needs to land, but it can't land unless a very bad man suddenly decides to turn nice, just in time for Christmas Day!"

"Oh!" Avalon suddenly squealed, startling him and Lena, even Amy as the phone had gone quiet for a moment.

"What?" the Doctor looked back to see her clapping her hands excitedly with a huge smile.

"I got it! I got the plan!" she cheered, "Don't you hear the singing?" she gestured to the speakers of the town that were playing a Christmas song, "A Christmas Carol! A Christmas Carol! A Christmas Carol!"

"I'm scared," the Doctor looked at Lena, never seeing the ginger acting like such a...ray of sunshine? If that even made sense.

"Me too," Lena admitted as she stared at her squealing twin.

"We have to do this," Avalon ran up to the Doctor who instinctively took steps back, "Oh please, oh please, oh _please_!?" she clapped her hands together, "A Christmas Carol is one of the best stories I've read!"

"That's great...what does this have to do with it now?" the Doctor asked, taking one more step back for caution.

"You said it yourself!" Avalon laughed, "How do we turn a man who's been bitter and mean his entire life? A Christmas Carol!"

The Doctor blinked as he finally got what the ginger was so excited about. Of course, a story, a classic story that Avalon loved. She had the opportunity to play out an entire story...on Christmas...of course she was squealing and clapping about. That made more sense.

"You are clever," he concluded, "Well done," he did a mock-bow, making her laugh.

"Can someone explain to me, please?" Lena came up to them, "And perhaps Amy?" she held the phone between them, "She's yelling again," she whispered.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor and the twins managed to sneak back into Kazran's house, after the servants had 'luckily' won the lottery. The Doctor set up a projection of a young Kazran while the current, elder Kazran slept. With a loud shout of his father in the

projection, the current Kazran awoke with a startle. He was stunned to see the projection of his younger self talking about the fish in the skies when his father came in...and struck him. He quickly stood up from his chair and rushed up to the wall where the projection played.

The trio had entered the room without Kazran noticing and the Doctor cautiously walked up to him and set a hand on his shoulder, "It's OK. It's OK."

Kazran jumped and turned around, angrily shouting, "What have you done? What is this?"

"Found it on an old drive. Sorry about the picture quality, had to recover the data using quantum enfolding and a paperclip," the Doctor stepped back as the twins joined him.

"Oh, I wouldn't bother calling your servants, they quit. Apparently they won the lottery at exactly the same time," Lena crossed her arms with an innocent smile, "Which is a bit lucky when you think about it."

"There isn't a lottery," Kazran pointed at her violently.

"Extra lucky," Avalon remarked as she plopped down in Kazran's chair.

"Who are you?"

Avalon smirked and looked at her sister and the Doctor, "I've always wanted to do this, eek," she took a breath and got into character before she leaned back on her chair, "Tonight, I am the Ghost Of Christmas Past," she dramatically waved her hands.

The Doctor playfully rolled his eyes at her, glad to see she was at least beginning to have some actual fun, "Did you ever get to see a fish back then, when you were a kid?" he asked Kazran who scoffed.

"What does that matter to you?"

"Look how it mattered to you," Lena softly said, gazing back at the projection where the young Kazran cried.

"I cried all night, and I learned life's most invaluable lesson," Kazran turned to her with a dark look in his eyes.

"Which is?"

"Nobody comes. Get out!" he startled them with his shouts, "Get out of my house!"

"Okay, okay, but we'll be back," the Doctor warned as he gathered his two companions and brought them behind him, "Way back, way, way back," they moved to the door where the projection played, the TARDIS waiting behind.

Kazran heard the wheezing sound of the TARDIS slowly leave his house...only to be heard again in his younger self's room...

~ 0 ~

The Doctor excitedly opened the window of young Kazran's bedroom, "See? Back!" he shouted to the recorder young Kazran had on his desk.

"Nice, Doctor, just enter a boy's room without greetings and introductions," Avalon came through the window next and helped Lena last.

"Who are you?" young Kazran asked them all, debating whether he should start calling for help.

"Right," the Doctor agreed with Avalon's statement and turned to the boy, "Hi, I'm the Doctor, that's Avalon and her sister Lena. We're your new babysitters."

"Where's Mrs Mantovani?"

"Oh, you'll never guess!" the Doctor hopped onto Kazran's bed and started jumping on it, "Clever old Mrs Manters, she only went and won the lottery!"

"There isn't any lottery," Kazran frowned and looked at the women.

"She got extra lucky," Avalon shrugged then looked at the Doctor with a sigh, "And so your dad got a babysitter that acts younger than you."

Lena laughed as the Doctor stopped jumping and let himself fall on the bed with a small bounce afterwards, "I would've liked one like that," she shrugged.

Kazran checked his open window and frowned, "If you're my babysitters, why were you climbing in the window?"

"That is a very good point," Avalon mused for an excuse and glanced at the Doctor, "Doctor?"

"Need saving again?" he smirked and raised an eyebrow, earning a mock-glare back, "The answer is simple, really," he turned to Kazran, the boy still expecting an answer, "Because if we were climbing out, we'd be going in the wrong direction. Pay attention."

"Smooth," Avalon rolled her eyes.

"Mrs Mantovani's always my babysitter," Kazran slowly said, still unsure they were actual babysitters.

"Times change," the Doctor peered into the camera, "Wouldn't you say? You see... Christmas Past."

"Who are you talking to?" Kazran frowned.

"You," the Doctor pointed, "Now, your past is going to change. That means your memories will too. Scary, but you'll get the hang of it."

"I don't understand," Kazran turned to the women again, wondering what kind of answer he'd be getting from them.

"I'll bet you don't! I wish I could see your face!" the Doctor exclaimed as he pointed between Kazran and the camera.

"And you're scaring him," Avalon pushed down his finger, "Quit it."

"Yeah, maybe we should focus on the plan," even Lena agreed that the boy looked a bit frightened and confused.

"Right then," the Doctor finally focused and looked around, "Your bedroom. Great! Let's see, you're 12 years old, so we'll stay away from under the bed. Cupboard! Big cupboard, I love a cupboard," he ran up to said cupboard and opened it up, poking his head inside.

"What've you been doing, fairy tale man?" Avalon smirked, even making Lena giggle when the Doctor nearly slipped inside from her comment.

"Ava!" he turned around, a scowl on his face as the two sisters laugh.

"I don't get it," Kazran said to the Doctor, thinking it must have been a girl thing as the women kept laughing.

"Good," the Doctor pointed at him then sighed, "So what are we going to do? Eat crisps and talk about girls? I've never actually done that, but I bet it's easy. Girls! Yeah?"

"I'm not so sure you can do that," Avalon looked at Lena.

"Shut up!" he pointed at her.

"Are you really babysitters?" Kazran had to question again, "You keep arguing..."

"Bantering," Lena corrected with an amused smile.

"Wish it would stop," the Doctor shot Avalon a look before he pulled out his psychic paper and held it to Kazran, "I think you'll find I'm universally recognized as a mature and responsible adult."

Kazran looked at the paper and tilted his head, "It's just a lot of wavy lines."

The Doctor took a look and raised his eyebrows, "Hm, it's shorted out..." he looked up at Avalon who was biting her lip with a smile that was threatening to turn into a laugh, "Oh alright, have at it," the Doctor rolled his eyes, resigned to another banter.

Avalon started to laugh, "You shorted out a paper designed to lie to everyone about anything! This is _too_ good!" she clutched her stomach, her face beginning to match the color of her hair from how much she was laughing.

The Doctor huffed, "Okay that's enough!" but Avalon kept going, "Ava, c'mon! Stop it!"

"I don't think she can..." Lena remarked, genuinely surprised to see that side of Avalon. She'd seen Avalon laugh, sure, but not even Rory had made her laugh that much, "...well done, big brother," she looked at him with a big grin.

"Welcome...sure..." the Doctor wasn't paying attention as he was focused on the ginger making fun of him, "I know someone who's getting coal for Christmas."

"I never get anything anyways," Avalon wiped some tears from her eyes, "Woah, that was a fun," she glanced at young Kazran, "Sorry about that, kid. Now then, you're right...pretty clear we're not real babysitters."

'That's an understatement," he crossed his arms.

"Oh, smart boy," she raised an eyebrow and straightened up, "Then I can tell you right now that we're gonna be much cooler than a regular babysitter who gives you a bedtime."

"And how are you going to do that?"

"Doctor," Avalon pointed at him, "You're going to show the kid the fish he wants to see."

"You don't have to point," he moved over and pushed her finger down, "But she's right," he nodded to Kazran, "It's going to be fish time!"

"Mind you, that's a bit strange," Lena thought about the creatures, "There's fish in the fog and the clouds..."

"My dad's invented a machine to control the cloud belt. Tame the sky, he says. The fish'll be able to come down, but only when we let them," Kazran said what he'd been told so many times, "We can charge whatever we like."

"Yeah, we've seen your dad's machine," the Doctor sighed, "Big, bad machine," he mumbled.

"Why would you charge, though?" Avalon asked, "Wouldn't it be fun to just let the fish down for everyone to enjoy? C'mon, fish? In the air?"

"Well technically," the Doctor began, "It's-" but he received Avalon's hand on his mouth.

"Like I was saying," she shot him an irritated look, no one needed to know the technicalities of the fish, "We can see a fish right now, and I won't charge you a thing for it," she tapped Kazran on the nose with her free hand.

Kazran raised an eyebrow, "Aren't you going to tell me it's dangerous?"

The Doctor pushed Avalon's hand down and looked at him, "The woman's been to jail many times, she's way past playing the goody too-shoes."

"He's right," Avalon agreed.

"But it's still dangerous," Lena had to remind as she moved closer.

"Dangerous!?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow and stepped beside Kazran, "We're boys," he put an arm around Kazran's shoulders, "And you know what boys say in the face of danger."

"What?" Lena looked at Avalon who already had a hand over her forehead, just knowing the Doctor would come up with something utterly stupid like...

"Mummy!" the Doctor grinned.

"And there we go," Avalon looked up and shook his head at them, "And then the girls-" she pointed at Lena and herself, "-will have to come and save your sorry behinds."

And so, the Doctor's screwdriver had a string tired around it and was hung in the center of Kazran's room, the string rigged up and going through the cupboard door where inside the Doctor held onto it. Kazran sat beside him while the twins across, the camera that would allow the older Kazran to see, being held by Lena.

"Are there any spiders in here?" Lena whispered to Avalon, deadly afraid of the creatures.

"No," she shushed her, for they had to be quiet.

"Are you afraid of spiders, baby sister?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow.

"Don't encourage it," Avalon sighed, "Why don't we ask Kazran why he likes the fish so much instead of poking at the fears of Lena?"

"I like that idea," Lena meekly nodded.

"Cos they're scary," Kazran went ahead and answered as he saw how pale the brunette woman looked just at the talks of spiders.

"That's a good answer," the Doctor pointed.

"What kind of tie is that?" Kazran looked at his bow-tie with a face that didn't exactly spell 'like'.

"A cool one," the Doctor tweaked his bow-tie.

"Why is it cool?"

"It's not," Avalon whispered, making the boy chuckle.

"Avalon," the Doctor sounded like he was pleading for her to stop.

The ginger playfully rolled her eyes, "So why are you really interested in fish?" she decided to give the man a break for the moment.

"My school. During the last fog belt, the nets broke and there was an attack. Loads of them, a whole shoal. No-one was hurt, but it was the most fish ever seen below the mountains."

"Were you scared?" Lena wondered, knowing she would probably be screaming about with terror if something like that happened.

"I wasn't there. I was off sick."

"Ooh, lucky you. Not lucky?" the Doctor observed the boy's disappointment.

"It's all anyone ever talks about now, the day the fish came. Everyone's got a story."

"But you don't," Avalon gave a small smile.

"Why are you recording this?" Kazran looked at Lena curiously.

"Do you pay attention at school, Kazran?" the Doctor asked.

"Sorry, what?"

"Cos you're not paying attention now," the Doctor's finger was tugged towards the door via the string, "Sh!" he quickly said as he stood up.

"Doctor, are you sure about that?" Kazran watched the man, debating whether he should stand or not.

"Trust me."

"Okay..."

"Oi! Eyes on the tie. Look at me. I wear it and I don't care. Trust me?"

"Yes," Kazran nodded and looked at the twins.

"That's why it's cool," the Doctor smirked to himself.

"It usually works out fine," Avalon gave a shrug, assuming what the boy was going to ask, "Just be ready to pull him back when he gets into trouble."

The Doctor had taken that as another sarcastic remark and was about to make a comeback...when he realized that had actually been something true. He shrugged and focused back on the doors, "Stay inside..."

"Now are you sure that's the best choice?" this time even Lena was hesitant to let him go out on his own.

"Listen to your sister, baby sister," the Doctor looked back, "And just be ready to pull me out when I get into trouble."

With that the Doctor slowly entered the bedroom and closed the cupboard, seeing the small fish repeatedly hitting his screwdriver, "Hello, fishy. Let's see. Interesting. Crystalline fog, eh? Maybe carrying a tiny electrical charge. Is that how you fly, little fishy?"

"What is it? What kind? Can I see?" Kazran gently knocked on the cupboard to be heard.

"Just stay there a moment."

"Is it big?"

"Nah, just a little one," the Doctor moved closer to the fish, about to try and touch it, "So, little fella, what do you eat?"

And then a shark zoomed into the room and swallowed whole the small fish along with part of the screwdriver.

"How little?" Kazran's voice was heard again.

"Erm..." the Doctor had jerked away from the shark.

"Is it time to pull you back inside, now?" Avalon inquired, the Doctor a bit surprised she'd pick up on the change of mood.

"No, no. Maybe just...wait there for a moment," he tried to play it 'cool' as he slowly made his way towards the cupboard.

"Don't think you can pull one over me, fairy tale man," Avalon warned.

"Yup, sorry," he swallowed and ran the rest of the way back to the cupboard, hastily leaning against the shut doors as the shark banged from the other side.

"What did you do!?" Avalon frowned and tried helping him keep the doors shut while Lena brought Kazran back with her.

"Well, concentrating on the plusses, Kazran's definitely got a story of his own now," the Doctor tried to smile but the shark was getting tougher and tougher, "Also, I got a good look at the fish, and I understand the fog, which'll help me land a spaceship in the future, and save a lot of lives. And I'll get some readings off my sonic screwdriver when I get it off the shark in the bedroom."

"There's a shark in my bedroom?" Kazran gaped, his eyes wide as could be.

"Oh, fine, focus on that part!" the Doctor rolled his eyes.

"It stopped," Avalon whispered and stood off the door.

"What's it doing, then?" Lena trembled with the eery silence that now laid around them.

"What do you call it if you don't have any feet, and you're taking a run-up?" the Doctor asked.

"Oh, this is no time for-"

The Doctor didn't wait for the finish of Avalon's words as he grabbed her and pulled her to the others, both falling a bit too close to with each other, while Lena and Kazran had fallen beside them. They looked at each other with mesmerization, even forgetting about a pending danger literally in front of them. Avalon then recalled her newest dreams and blushed like mad.

"It's going to eat us!" came Lena's cry, startling them back to reality.

Avalon cleared her throat and shuffled to turn away from the Doctor and to her twin, "Not on my watch," she managed to say, "Is that your screwdriver, Doctor?"

"Hm?" the Doctor blinked and looked at the shark that was stuck in the doorway with its mouth open with a green glow inside, "Oh, look at that..."

"That looks in reach, right?"

"Are you actually going to stick your hand inside that shark?" Kazran had seen where the woman was headed with her words and gawked.

"Lesson number one, kid, girls are _so_ much better than boys," Avalon shot him a smirk.

"Ah, you will not be doing any of that," the Doctor kept her back as soon as she tried moving forwards, "My screwdriver, my arms," he gestured.

"Fine, but after two goes it's my turn," she gestured to her own arms, "And then Lena...and then Kazran..."

"Get the screwdriver!" Lena cried again, horrified to think of putting her arms inside a _shark_. She now recalled why exactly she didn't want to keep traveling.

"Right then! OK. Geronimo! Open wide," the Doctor took a breath and moved for the shark.

~ 0 ~

After managing to get his screwdriver back, the Doctor had managed to get the rest of the group out into the patio outside Kazran's bedroom, the shark seemingly weaker all of a sudden. It had tried to make a move on them again but after entering the patio, it had slowly fallen to the ground and remained there.

Worried, Kazran moved to its side along with Lena, while Avalon stayed behind them just in case the creature tried to do anything more.

Meanwhile, the Doctor stood a bit to the side, checking his meek piece of screwdriver, "What's the big fishy done to you? Swallowed half of you, that's what. Half a screwdriver, what use is that? Bad, big fishy."

"Doctor? I think she's dying," Kazran called quietly, not wanting to startle the shark.

"Half my screwdriver's still inside, but yeah, I think so," he turned around, "I doubt they can survive long outside the cloud belt. Just quick raiding trips on a foggy night."

"Can't we get it back up there?" Kazran began sniffling, "We were just going to stun it. I didn't want to kill it."

"She was trying to eat you, Kazran," Avalon pointed out the events that had led to the shark's demise, "All of us..."

"She was hungry," the boy defended.

"I'm sorry, Kazran. We can't save her," the Doctor walked over, "I could take her back up there, but she'd never survive the trip. We need a fully functioning life-support."

At that, Kazran looked up with new sudden hope, "You mean like an icebox? OK."

And that was how the trio found themselves chasing after the boy, running down the stairs while Kazran only grew farther away, now even carrying a lamp to lead the way.

On their way to wherever Kazran led there was a large, decorated Christmas tree where the Doctor had to stop and gawk at, "Ooh, a tree!"

"C'mon," Avalon rolled her eyes as she walked past him, yanking him by the arm after her.

Kazran had taken the group into the basement of the house where a large, metal door with a security keypad on the side blocked their way into a new room full of ice by the glimpse they got from a small window. As the Doctor took a better look he saw the room was covered in ice and full of chambers like the one he'd seen earlier.

"What is this?" he asked Kazran with curiosity.

"The surplus population. That's what my dad calls it."

"Well that's nice," Avalon blinked.

Kazran was trying to turn the wheel for the door to open, even Lena trying to help as she thought the boy would need some extra strength. Unfortunately, the wheel wouldn't work, "Oh, it's not turning! Oh, why won't it turn?" Kazran stepped back while the Doctor used his remnant of a screwdriver on the keypad.

"Ah, what's the number?" he saw the keypad asking for the security code.

Kazran shrugged, "I don't know!"

"This place is full of alarms, it's not just the door. I need the number!"

"I'm not allowed to know until I'm older."

The Doctor huffed and ran out without a word, leaving Kazran to call after him.

"He'll be back," Avalon assured as she moved up to the window to take a look.

Just like Avalon assured, the Doctor had come back running only a minute after he'd left, hollering, "7258!" repeatedly.

Lena hurried to the keypad and typed in the numbers, opening the doors for them. Together, they entered the cold room full of thicker fog, Kazran once again taking the lead and sprinting over to a specific chamber.

"Ah, there's fish down here, too," the Doctor looked around as small fishes swam around them.

"Yeah, but only tiny ones. The house is built on a fog lake. That's how Dad freezes the people," Kazran stopped in front of a chamber, "They're all full, but we could borrow one," he pointed at the chamber he stood by, "Yeah, this one."

The Doctor held up the lamp they'd carried in to the chamber's window and saw it was the woman the family had been arguing over, "Hello again," he whispered.

"You know her?" Kazran looked at them all, seeing the similar expressions on each of their faces.

"What is so important about her?" Avalon wondered and blinked, "Sorry, that came out completely wrong," she amended her error with embarrassment, "I meant why this specific chamber? What's the significance?"

"She won't mind. She loves the fish," Kazran quickly typed in a number into the woman's chamber's keypad, starting a holographic video on the window of the chamber for them.

"My name is Abigail Pettigrew, and I'm very grateful for Mr Sardick's kindness. My father..."

"She starts to talk about the fish in a minute," Kazran assured with excitement.

"…but I would not allow it. I could not have chosen this path were it not for the compassion and generosity of the great philanthropist and patron of the poor, Mr Elliot Sardick, but I'm also surrounded by the fish, the beautiful, iridescent, magical fish..."

While the video played, the Doctor took the lamp with him and made a small walk around the other chambers nearby, "Why are these people here? What's all this for?"

Kazran sighed, "My dad lends money. He always takes a family member as... He calls it security."

"Hard man to love, your dad," Lena made a face and looked down at the boy, "But I suppose you know that." She thanked the heavens she had been given the type of father she had. He never struck her nor her siblings and always gave the best he could for them all.

Kazran had pressed more buttons on Abigail's chamber and lighted it up, activating the defrosting, "What's wrong?" he looked over at the Doctor who had been tampering with his screwdriver again.

"Just my half a screwdriver trying to repair itself. It's signalling the other half..."

The twins looked at each other with concerned looks, the same looks slowly making its way onto Kazran's and the Doctor's faces.

"The other half's inside the shark," Avalon breathed.

"Yeah. Sounds like she's woken up," the Doctor nodded, "OK. So it's homing on the screwdriver..."

The shark reappeared with its mouth open for another attack. The group quickly dispersed and ran off as the shark tried to attack once more, some of the chambers were even knocked down with the attempts. While each of them had taken a position to hide in, a new voice had taken over the entire vault room, a singer. With the singing, the shark seemed to have retreated from its attacks and so the group was able to come out of hiding and go check what/who was singing.

It was Abigail, who'd come out of her chamber, and was now singing to the shark, the creature at her side in a complete calm manner.

"It's not really the singing, of course," the Doctor began once he'd rejoined the group, all standing several feet away from Abigail.

"Yes, it is," Lena observed the manner in which all the fishes seemed to grow close to Abigail.

"Nah, baby sister..."

"The fish love the singing, it's true," Kazran agreed.

"Nah. The notes resonate in the ice, causing a delta wave pattern in the fog," but the Doctor stopped with a slap on the back of his neck, "Ow! A fish bit me."

"Shut up, then," Avalon smirked, guessing the fish had meant for him to be quiet so they could hear what they wanted.

"Of course!" the Doctor didn't seem to capture the message, "That's how the machine controls the cloud belt. The clouds are ice crystals. If you vibrate them at the right frequency, you could align them..." he slapped the back of his neck again, "Ow! Why do they keep biting me?"

Kazran rolled his eyes and looked up at him, "Look, the fish like the singing, OK? Now shut up!"

"Okay," the Doctor grumbled and finally stayed quiet like everyone seemed to want.

~ 0 ~

Once the shark had been placed into Abigail's chamber, the group, now with Abigail, had gone into the TARDIS. Upon entering, Abigail and Kazran had fallen into shock of the dimensions of the box.

"It's bigger on the inside," Kazran turned around in a circle.

"Yeah, it's the colour. Really knocks the walls back," the Doctor tapped the chamber on the floor.

"I don't think that's what he meant," Avalon gave him a look.

"Anyways,"" he rolled his eyes, "Shark in a box, to go," he ran to the console to set the box in motion.

Abigail was taking several steps around the room to gaze at every detail of the bigger place, "This is...amazing!"

"Nah, this is transport," the Doctor played innocent, "I keep amazing...out here," he ran for the doors and flung them open to allow them the view of millions of fish swimming among the cloud belt.

"Now that's just showing off," Avalon shook her head but nonetheless ran for the doorway to look out.

"Point one: big brother," Lena congratulated the Doctor as he returned for the chamber, chuckling to herself as Avalon poked her head out the doorway along with Kazran and Abigail.

The Doctor smirked to himself as he punched in numbers on the chamber, "Come on, then, let's get this shark out."

It was only a couple minutes when the shark was finally able to return back to its home with the other fish.

"Hey, look at her go!" Kazran cheered and laughed.

As the Doctor went to close the chamber he saw a couple numbers on the front of it, not belonging to any security code, "Abigail, this number, what does it mean?" he assumed she would know best.

"It pertains to me, sir, not the fish," Abigail tried to keep the smile she'd had since she stepped out of the chamber as best she could.

"Yeah, but how?"

She stepped towards him, slightly sheepish, "You are a doctor, you say? Are you one of mine?"

"Do you need a doctor?"

The bell chiming at the console broke through the conversation and made the Doctor hurry back to to the console.

"Ah! Sorry! Time's up, kids!"

"Why?" Avalon looked back with genuine disappointment, only making the Doctor smirk again of triumph.

"It's nearly Christmas Day," he informed and looked away before he was caught.

~ 0 ~

Abigail and her chamber were brought back to the Ice Vault to resume her 'sleep'. Abigail gave a small, genuine smile at the group, "If you should ever wish to visit again..."

"Well, you know, we're ever in the neighborhood..." the Doctor began to say when Kazran cut in.

"They come every Christmas Eve. Yeah, they do, every time. They promise!"

"We do?" Lena looked over at the Doctor, confused.

"No, we don't..." the Doctor blinked, confused himself, as Kazran closed Abigail's chamber's door.

But it had already been decided, apparently, that he and the twins would come back every year on Christmas Eve for Kazran ans Abigail. The Doctor hoped that by doing this they would be able to help Amy and Rory in the future with Kazran now a good man. So, every year, Abigail was greeted by him, Kazran, and the twins and was taken out to celebrate Christmas Eve. Beginning with a shark - carriage flight throughout the sky and to the rest of time and space. Young Kazran ended up growing up with each visit the Doctor and the twins made, entering his early teens ans finding a new, shy, personality...and a bow-tie.

While Abigail and the older Kazran walked (slowly) towards the console, the Doctor and the twins were battling it out to see where exactly they would be headed for this Christmas.

"You've grown," Abigail tried to be as discreet as possible.

Kazran gave a small nod, "Yeah."

"And now you're blushing," Abigail chuckled.

"Sorry," Kazran looked away.

"That's OK," Abigail shrugged.

"So, Doctor, where this time?" Kazran quickly looked at rhe others in hopes of ending the awkward conversation.

"Weeell..." Avalon discreetly walked around the console, "I've got Hollywood in mind!" she beamed excitedly.

"And I just want a snowy place," Lena remarked.

"And I've got time and space," the Doctor smirked.

"Might I make a request?" Abigail sheepishly stepped up.

"Of course," the Doctor moved over to them.

"This one," Abigail nodded.

~ 0 ~

After Abigail made her request, the Doctor brought them to her sister's house, the family that had been pleading for Abigail's release in the future. The blonde stood in front of a window of her sister's house, wearing a cloak over her. Off to the side stood the rest of the group, watching her begin to quietly cry.

"Who are they?" Kazran didn't understand why they stood in a random street.

"Her family. The lady's her sister," the Doctor answered, "We met her once, when she was...older."

"Abigail's crying," Kazran whispered.

"I think we've noticed," Avalon crossed her arms.

"When girls are crying, are you supposed to talk to them?"

"I've learned it helps," the Doctor glanced at Avalon with a small smile.

She caught the words and shared a look with him, "Yeah, it does..." she whispered with her own smile.

Lena looked between them and assumed it must be something while she'd been 'dead'. She had to admit it was a bit odd to see them closer, even their bantering had changed. Still, she preferred them this way than the early days. She turned to Kazran, about to suggest he go and talk to Abigail when she realized he was already doing that, "Smart guy," she smiled and then gasped, "Do you know what we should do?"

"What did you have in mind, baby sister?" the Doctor wondered, seeing her overly excitedly about something.

"Christmas with the family! C'mon!" Lena took his hand and Avalon's, rushing them for Abigail's sister's house.

~ 0 ~

Christmas Eve had been moved to be celebrated with Abigail's family. Although it was a strange for Abigail sister, Isabel, to see her sister with Kazran and time travelers, she had accepted Abigail right away. And while the two sisters caught up, Kazran had taken to helping Isabel's husband with the house decorations while the Doctor and the twins entertained the children.

The Doctor held up playing cards for the son, "Pick a card, any card at all. Memorize the card, put it back in the deck. Don't let me see it," the son took a card and studied it for a minute then returned it to the deck. The Doctor then took a card out and held it for the boy to see, "The three of clubs."

"No," the boy shook his head.

"You sure? I'm very good at card tricks," the Doctor made a face at the card he'd pulled out.

"It wasn't the three of clubs."

"Well, of course it wasn't," the Doctor chucked the card to the side, "Because it was the seven of diamonds!"

"No," the boy looked at the card with amusement.

"Oi, stop it, you're doing it wrong," the Doctor set the cards down with a huff.

"It's not his fault you're a bad card player," Avalon took a seat beside the boy and picked up the deck.

"Oh, and you can do better?"

Avalon raised an eyebrow, accepting the challenge, "Tell you what, let's make this interesting," she motioned for the son to move over so she could take his place.

"How so?" the Doctor curiously asked as she shuffled the cards.

"I wouldn't do that, big brother," Lena came over as soon as she saw Avalon shuffling playing cards.

"You place your wager and I'll say mine," Avalon smirked.

"Anything I want?" the Doctor ignored Lena's warnings.

"Anything," Avalon nodded.

"Fine, if I win, you stop all your sarcastic remarks for the rest of Christmas Eve _and_ Day."

"Difficult, but manageable," Avalon nodded, "I'll take it. But if _I_ win..." she eyed him for a minute, "...I get your watch," she smirked.

"Don't do this, please," Lena bent down beside them.

"Deal," the Doctor agreed and shook hands on it.

"Guys..." Lena tried again but Avalon was already shuffling the cards.

"Same rules go for the game," Avalon warned the Doctor, "Pick a card and study it, put it back and I'll pick put that same card."

"I know how the game works," the Doctor rolled his eyes as he pulled out a card, showing it to Lena, "Lena will be our cheater detector."

"I'm not gonna cheat," Avalon shook her head and held the deck for him to return his card. She shuffled them again and took out a card, "Was this your card?"

The Doctor blinked when he saw his card being held in front of him, "How did...?" he snatched the card from her and turned it around, "That...that is..."

"Hand over the watch, fairy tale man," Avalon chuckled as she set down the deck.

"That was...but...no!"

"I did warn you not to do it," Lena sighed.

"How did you do that!? You cheated!"

"Like I said, it's not our fault you don't know how to play," Avalon wiggled her fingers, "Watch, now, please."

"Lena!"

"I'm gonna go help decorate," Lena cautiously stood up and hurried away, preferring to stay out of it.

"Hand it over, fairy tale man," Avalon insisted.

"You cheated," the Doctor pointed at her.

"No, I'm just really good at cards," Avalon shrugged.

"How do you even know how to play!?" the Doctor crossed his arms.

"My dad taught me," Avalon smirked. "So cough it up."

The Doctor glared for a minute before finally removing his watch from his wrist. Avalon held her left hand out and watched with giddy smile as he wrapped the watch around her wrist. He had to admit, it was nice to see her openly happy...even if it was because she was taking something of his.

"You like my new watch?" she bared a teethy smile at him as she raised her left hand.

"You are evil," he said plainly, making her laugh.

Isabel suddenly cleared her throat and stood up, "Tomorrow's dinner is cancelled, as my sister refuses to attend."

"Isabella..." Abigail tried to sit her back down.

"Instead...we'll have it tonight," Isabel smiled, surprising the others.

Dinner had been set up on the table and everyone took a seat to begin. They all had crackers to pull and counted down together.

"Three! Two! One! Pull!"

Everyone cheered after seeing the gifts inside, although the little boy was more surprised to see a playing card inside his cracker, "How did you do that?" he looked at the Doctor with awe.

"Your card, I believe," the Doctor pointed, smirking, until...

"No!" the boy laughed and set the card down.

"Oh, shut up!" the Doctor gave up on the game.

"Maybe I can teach you later," Avalon laughed, "And maybe even get your screwdriver this time!"

The Doctor looked horrified at that and quickly shook his head, making Avalon laugh even more.

Kazran cleared his throat and raised his glass, "Er, Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas!" the rest cheered.

~ 0 ~

Once more, Abigail was brought back to the Ice Vault, the blonde thanking the group for their gift, "Best Christmas Eve ever," she hugged the Doctor last.

"Ah! Till the next one," he stepped back.

"I look forward to it. Now I'd like to say good night to Kazran..."

"Of course," the Doctor nodded, "Well, on you go."

"You really are clueless," Avalon shook her head, "We'll be on our way," she waved at Abigail then took the Doctor back, with the help of Lena, towards the TARDIS.

"Wait!" Kazran rushed after them, "Doctor! I, er, I think she's going to kiss me."

"You are not asking him for advice, are you?" Avalon sighed.

"I can give good advice," the Doctor argued and pushed Kazran towards Abigail.

"I've never kissed anyone before. What do I do?" the teenage boy urgently asked.

"Well...try and be all nervous and rubbish and a bit shaky."

"Why?"

"You'll be like that anyway. Make it part of the plan!"

"That is the worst advice I have ever heard!" Avalon exclaimed, though not so surprised by it.

"Well, it's not that bad of an idea," Lena stepped forwards, "Just go for it, Kazran!"

"What, _now_? I kiss her _now_?" he blinked with wide eyes.

"Kazran," the Doctor put an arm around his shoulder, "It's this or go to your room and design a new kind of screwdriver. Don't make my mistakes. Now, go!"

"I am _so_ not gonna let that one go," Avalon pointed and walked off, laughing to herself. "Of course that's what you would do!" her laughter because like a howl all the way into the TARDIS.

"Oh c'mon!" the Doctor went after her, Lena scurrying behind them to try and stop their newest banter.

~ 0 ~

California, 1952.

The Doctor hurried through some bushes that led into the pool area of a lovely, Hollywood party. He'd listened to Avalon's request of the area - that being his first mistake - and even got dressed for the occasion as Avalon suggested...that had been his second mistake.

The third mistake had been listening to her to make friends at the party.

Now, he was on the run to gather up his companions and get the hell out of there. He came to find Kazran and Abigail kissing by the pool, "Guys, we've really got to go quite quickly. I just accidentally got engaged to Marilyn Monroe!" he rambled but the pair did not break apart, "How do you keep going like that? Do you breathe out your ears? Hello? Sorry, hello? Guys, she's phoned a chapel, there's a car outside, this is happening _now_!"

"Yoo-hoo! Yoo-hoo!" he heard Marilyn Monroe calling for him.

"Twins," the Doctor blinked and dashed off, hoping to at least get them to help him...even if it meant hearing the nonstop laughter of Avalon once again.

~ 0 ~

Lena plopped down beside Avalon at a table, Lena a bit distressed, "I can't find any of our friends," she sighed.

Avalon had a plate of food in front of her, the fork already in her hand, "Who cares, Lena. Kazran and Abigail are probably snogging somewhere and the Doctor is probably getting himself into trouble. Let me eat!"

"What is that?" Lena crinkled her nose at the scent the food was giving off.

"No idea," Avalon shrugged, "Nice fella handed it to me, asked for a dance afterwards."

"Avalon!" Lena took the plate from her before Avalon dug her fork into it, "You can't accept things from strangers!"

"He's a celebrity!" Avalon took back from her plate.

"Oh yeah, who was he?" Lena pulled the plate again.

"Um..." Avalon thought for a moment and realized she didn't have the foggiest idea, "..well, he's a celebrity so everyone knows him! That's not a stranger! Now give me!" she pulled the plate again and finally sunk her fork into it.

"Do you even know what it is?" Lena raised an eyebrow.

"Nope!" the ginger toasted with her fork and was about to put it in her mouth when she heard the Doctor calling for them.

"Ava! Lena!" the Doctor rushed up to them in urgency.

"What happened to you, big brother?" Lena asked, making Avalon look up to see what her sister was talking about.

The Doctor had been dressed in a white evening jacket and black trousers, only now his face wore the smudges of someone's lips on his cheek.

"Who have you been snogging?" Avalon raised her eyebrows.

"Shut up! Help me!" he clapped his hands together.

"Let me eat," Avalon shifted back in her chair.

"Oh, don't be so mean," Lena looked at the Doctor who seemed very desperate.

"I'm eating!" but then Avalon tasted a bit of the food and spit it back out. That was _horrible_. "Okay, what do you need?" she turned to the Doctor, pushing her plate away from her.

"Marilyn Monroe! Engaged! Marriage! Chapel! _Help_ _me_!"

"Okay," Avalon stood up and took a sip of her drink to get rid of the awful taste, "This is what we're going to do. Lena, give me your bag," she held her hand out as Lena gave her purse.

"What are you going to do?" the Doctor frowned as the ginger pulled out a lipstick tube.

"Oh, I get it," Lena stood up as Avalon applied the lipstick.

"I don't! What's going on!?" the Doctor flapped his hands with urgency, "I don't have time!"

"No, no, it'll be fine. She's done this before and it worked perfectly!" Lena assured and received her purse back.

"What?" the Doctor waited impatiently.

Avalon moved over to the Doctor's side and grabbed his face, kissing the corner of his mouth and making sure her smudge stayed on.

"Wh-what are you doing?" the Doctor stiffened, thoroughly confused.

He was expecting some kind of teasing laughter instead of kisses! Avalon had kissed him on the other side of his face, also making sure that her smudge would stay. He could feel her breath on his skin and frankly it...hadn't felt so bad. He looked down at the wrong time, for her lips were dangerously close and for a split second he wondered what it might be to k...

"Don't forget the jacket!" Lena exclaimed, startling the Doctor from his thoughts.

He blinked and stepped away from them while he gathered himself. What had that been about? He shouldn't have those thoughts at all! It was _Avalon_ , his baby sister's twin (or step-sister, but no one really knew that), the woman who laughed and teased him all the time! What was wrong with him?

"What about it?" Avalon looked back at Lena, sporting her own blush from her kisses.

"It's not gonna work if you don't mess that up too," Lena moved up to the Doctor, "Sorry big brother," she apologized before pulling his bow-tie undone and ruffling his hair, "There!" she stepped back.

"What is the point of all this?" the Doctor frowned moving to fix his hair when Lena smacked his hand, "Ow!"

"No woman wants to share her man, whether boyfriend or husband," Avalon remarked, "Duh. That's why you and Lena are going back to Marilyn where Lena's going to play your wife, or girlfriend, whatever you want. I'll act as the previous woman you've been engaged to."

"And this _works_?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow, full of doubt.

"I've done it before with Mels and it is _hilarious_." Avalon crossed her arms, "Now go on! I bet Marilyn is getting frustrated!"

"I don't want to be the wife," Lena made a face.

"Thanks baby sister," the Doctor mock-glared at her.

"No, not like that," Lena chuckled, "You're my 'big brother', remember? I feel weird playing your wife..."

"Yoo-hoo!" they heard Marilyn calling.

"Well someone's got to do it or he'll be walking down that aisle in ten minutes," Avalon reminded.

"Yoo-hoo!"

"Ava please!" the Doctor hurried up to her, "Please! Please! Please!"

"Alright, alright," Avalon rolled her eyes, "Stole your watch and I keep making cheap remarks, least I could do is get you out of a marriage," she linked arms with him, "Let's go!"

Lena laughed as they all headed to get the Doctor out of his terrible mess, none of the aware of what was happening with Kazran and Abigail.

~ 0 ~

The group finally returned back to the Ice Vault to place Abigail back in her chamber, everyone alright and no one married. Abigail and Kazran asked for a moment to be alone before parting but when Kazran rejoined the group afterwards, there was an evident change in his mood and expression.

"There we go. Another day, another Christmas Eve. We'll see you in a minute, eh? I mean, a year," the Doctor clapped Kazran on the shoulder.

"Doctor... Listen, why don't we leave it?" Kazran quietly asked.

"Sorry, leave what?"

"Oh, you know. This. Every Christmas Eve, it's getting a bit old."

"Christmas never gets old," Lena frowned.

"Well, Christmas is for kids, isn't it?" Kazran countered, "I've got some work with my dad now, I'm going to focus on that. Get that cloud belt under control."

"Did we bore you or something?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, "Or is there something you don't want tell us?"

"It's just times changing," Kazran shrugged and started walking away.

"Not as much as I'd hoped," the Doctor went after the teen, "Kazran," he handed his screwdriver to Kazran, "I'll be needing a new one, anyway. What the hell, Merry Christmas. And if you ever need me, just activate it. I'll hear you."

"I won't need you," Kazran took the screwdriver and mumbled.

"What's happened? What are you not telling me?" the Doctor eyed him suspiciously but Kazran walked off again, "What about Abigail?" he called.

"I know where to find her," Kazran shouted and disappeared through the chambers.

"Well that went well," Lena frowned, "What happens now?"

"I'll tell you what, the Ghost of Christmas _Present_ happens now," Avalon stared at Abigail's chamber up ahead, "He won't tell us, fine. But he'll have to tell in the present," with that, she hurried back to the TARDIS, "Doctor! C'mon!" she called.

~ 0 ~

As Avalon directed, Amy took the role of the next 'ghost' and projected herself to the older, current Kazran in hopes of changing the man's mind and help the ship in the clouds. Once that didn't happen, Kazran was brought to the Ice Vault...in front of Abigail's chamber. It was there that Kazran explained the illness Abigail had before going into the chamber, the ice barely able to keep her alive. But with each Christmas Eve she spent out of it, her moments of life went down, hence the number in front of her chamber. None of them had realized it had went down to number '1'. She only had one more opportunity to go out before she would die, which was the reason Kazran had forgone the traditional Christmas Eve's.

"We're really sorry about Abigail," Lena had come towards the current Kazran, the Doctor and Avalon behind her, "We didn't know..."

"Because you didn't tell us," Avalon muttered, getting a look from the Doctor to get her be quiet. She was just upset that Kazran had left them to the side and then got angry with _them_ for what happened to Abigail. It can't be their fault if they weren't even informed. But on requests of Lena and the Doctor, she was forced to say quiet about it.

"All my life, I've been called heartless. My other life, my real life, the one you rewrote. Now look at me," Kazran stood in front of Abigail's chamber with a heartbroken expression as he looked into the window.

"Better a broken heart than no heart at all," the Doctor tried to comfort the man.

"Oh, try it. You try it. Why are you here?"

"Have you even _read_ A Christmas Carol?" Avalon huffed, "It's time for the Ghost of Christmas Future. The future's about to be shown!"

"Fine! Do it! Show me! I'll die cold, alone and afraid. Of course I will, we all do! What difference does showing me make? Do you know why I'm going to let those people die? It's not a plan. I don't get anything from it. It's just that I don't care. I'm not like you, any of you. I don't even want to be like you! I don't and never, ever will care!"

"And we don't believe that," the Doctor stood straight, looking the man in the eye.

"Then show me the future. Prove me wrong."

"We're showing you the future _right now_ ," Lena corrected, pointing past Kazran, "What do you think, sweetheart?" she called, "Is that who you want to become, Kazran?"

The current Kazran turned around and found his younger 12 year old self standing in front of him, "Dad?" young Kazran blinked.

The current Kazran dropped his cane and went for the boy, about to strike when he got the flashes of his father beating him then of himself trying to hurt Abigail's nephew. He came to a halt and realized the man he had become over the years, certainly not one he wanted to continue to be, "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," he reached out to hug his younger self, "It's OK, don't be frightened. I'm...I'm so, so, so..."

"Kazran. We don't have much time," the Doctor reminded.

There was only a couple minutes until the ship above would come crashing down...

~ 0 ~

With Kazran now changed, the group hurried back to the control room to turn off the cloud belt...only to realize the controls wouldn't work anymore. The Doctor realized they had made a mistake in changing Kazran _too_ much. The controls were programmed for a man like Kazran's father, and since Kazran wasn't like that anymore...the controls were useless. Another option had to be thought of and fast because the ship would be coming down soon. The option, when thought of one, hadn't been the happiest of choices but it was the only thing that was sure to work. That was how Abigail had gotten out of her chamber for the last time, to sing for the fishes up in the sky. She stood outside Kazran's house, singing into the Doctor's screwdriver that was wired to Kazran's machine inside.

"Well?" Kazran quietly turned to the Doctor frantically, wondering if it had been worth it to take Abigail's last moments of life.

"Well, the singing resonates in the crystals. It's feeding back and forth between the two halves of the screwdriver. One song, filling the sky. The crystals will align, I'll feed in a controlled phase loop, and the clouds will unlock."

"And in English...?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, young Kazran and Lena wondering the same thing.

"Something that hasn't happened in this town for a very long time now will happen right about..." the Doctor didn't finish when the first couple of snowflakes began falling from the sky.

"Snow!" Lena cheered, "Yes!"

With the snow falling, the other townsfolk started coming out of their houses to celebrate. While the ship did its clear landing, the Doctor and the twins went to return young Kazran to his own time...while leaving the current Kazran and Abigail a familiar gift: a carriage, a harness and a familiar shark swimming above.

~ 0 ~

Once Amy and Rory had been released from the ship, they had quickly went to find their friends, hoping they were alright after such events. They didn't have to do much searching when they heard the calls of Avalon and Lena, both nearly tackled with great, big hugs.

"You guys alright?" Avalon pulled Lena back with her.

"Yeah, yeah, nothing like a crashing ship for a honeymoon," Amy joked and laughed.

"The best, I hear," Avalon joined in with a small laugh.

"Ah, yes, you two! About time!" the Doctor joined them, immediately eyeing the clothing they wore, Amy with her Kissogram outfit and Rory dressed as a Centurion, "Why are you dressed like that?"

The twins chuckled, "You are way too clueless," Avalon mumbled to Lena.

"Ah, kind of lost our luggage. Kind of crash landed," Rory rubbed the side of his neck.

"Yeah, but why are you dressed like that at all?" the Doctor insisted, genuinely curious of the attire.

"They really love their snowmen around here," Amy desperately changed the topic and looked at a nearby snowman, "I've counted about 20."

"Yeah, I've been busy," the Doctor easily followed without noticing the blushes of either married human.

"Yeah, yeah, you have," Amy nodded and hugged him, "Thank you. "

"Pleasure. Right, come on, then, let's go!" the Doctor clapped his hands and headed for the TARDIS.

"Got any more honeymoon ideas?" Rory dared to ask as they followed.

"Careful what you ask for," Avalon put a hand on his shoulder.

"Is that...is that your watch?" Amy looked at the Doctor with confusion when she spotted the familiar watch on Avalon's wrist.

"She conned me out of it," the Doctor muttered.

"Did not!" Avalon exclaimed, "I won it fair and square and Lena is a witness!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Anyways, I _do_ have another honeymoon idea, not sure if anyone's interested. There's a moon that's made of actual honey. Well, not actual honey. And it's not actually a moon. And technically, it's alive and a bit carnivorous, but there are some lovely views."

"Yeah, great, thanks," Rory shot Amy a look and mouthed 'no' to her before going inside the TARDIS with Avalon.

"Are you OK?" Amy looked between the Doctor and Lena.

"Course we're okay," the Doctor nodded and glanced at Lena for confirmation.

"Yeah," she agreed, "Just a bit sad that I'll be leaving."

"You can always stay, you know that," the Doctor pointed, Amy nodding in agreement.

"No, I just...I remember now why I was going to leave the first time around," Lena sighed, unaware of the questioning look Amy was now giving her, "I get scared easily and I become a burden. Plus, it's just not me," she shook her head, "Doesn't mean I don't want to take a trip here and then, it's always fun to be with my friends and sister. But, I think like Avalon, it's time I figure out who I want to be. I'm not going to stay as the 'sick girl' forever," she smiled and went inside.

"That was...wow," Amy didn't even know how to comment on that, "When was she going to leave?" she asked the Doctor quietly.

"Before she died'," the Doctor sighed, preferring not to remember that day.

"And let me guess, Avalon had no idea?"

"None whatsoever."

"Sounds right," Amy nodded and looked up to the clear sky, "It'll be their last day together, won't it?" she sighed when she thought of Kazran and Abigail.

"Everything has to end some time, otherwise nothing would ever get started."

Rory came back out with a concerned expression on his face, "Your phone was ringing. Someone called Marilyn. Actually sounds like _the_ Marilyn. Avalon took the call and it sounds like it's not going so well..."

The Doctor blinked, "Right..." from now on, neither Avalon nor Lena were fans of Marilyn Monroe and vice versa. The blonde woman hadn't been to happy to hear that he had 'tricked' another woman (Lena) into marrying him while he was already 'married' (Avalon).

"Doctor?" Amy smiled in amusement at his expression, "Something you want to tell us, maybe?"

"You may want to get Ava off the phone, I've learned her words are very colorful when she gets into her temper," the Doctor took a breath and shook his head.

"Yeah," Rory knew exactly how Avalon would get and so hurried back inside.

"Where are they, anyways? Kazran and Abigail?" Amy got over her chuckle from the Doctor.

"Off on a little trip, I should think."

"Where?"

"Christmas."

"Christmas?"

"Yeah, Christmas," the Doctor opened the door for her and let her go inside first. He glanced up with a small smile, "Halfway out of the dark," he went into the TARDIS a moment after.

~ 0 ~

 _"Oh my one, I'm so happy_

 _That you've got so far_

 _I know the good, the great_

 _Is working you like a charm._

 _Oh my one, rushing away,_

 _With a bag full of bones,_

 _I know the place you left,_

 _Still won't leave you alone._

The Doctor had come to a stop in the corridors of the TARDIS after hearing those melancholic words. He was looking for Lena since the brunette would be returning to her father and brother in a couple of minutes. She'd just excused herself to say goodbye to Avalon but was expected she'd taken slightly longer. The Doctor knew this would probably be the first time in their lives they would be apart, whether twins or step-sisters they loved each other sincerely. Of course, in his mind Avalon didn't know her status as a Reynolds was in question.

The Doctor had allowed Lena to spend as much time as she wanted in the TARDIS but after some time he was curious to see what the twins were up to. Now hearing the sound of a piano, he wondered if it had been wise for him to allow them the time together if they were going to be sad about it.

He stopped in front of the room the sounds were coming from and found Lena standing by a piano (one that he had no idea even existed in the box) where Avalon sat and played, and sang...sadly. He didn't like it, he didn't like it one bit for either to be sad. He strode into the room and cleared his throat, ending the music, which admittedly wasn't bad. He knew Avalon had a lovely singing voice, he just didn't know she had musical instrument talent as well.

"It's Christmas, why are we so sad?" he sighed as he came up beside Lena, giving her a side hug.

"I asked her the same thing," Lena agreed with a nod.

"I like the song, sue me," Avalon tried to defend herself, "I love its chords, the sounds, the lyrics..."

"Gloomy," the Doctor accused.

"I didn't force anyone to stay nor come," she pointed, "Sorry if I was bad."

"No, no, I think you were fantastic," the Doctor quickly clarified, "You're 'Ava Williams', of course you're fantastic!" she managed to smile at his words, "But perhaps your voice could do even better at joyful songs...Christmas songs."

"Hard to do so when you're not exactly in a cheery mood," she ran a finger down the piano's keyboard, "Christmas or no Christmas," she mumbled under her breath as her gaze fell down. "Everything's changing now. Lena's leaving and...I don't know what to do about that."

"Be happy," Lena gave her sister another side hug. "Plus, we've got our matching bracelets now, see?" she put her wrist and Avalon's side by side so the Doctor could see matching bracelets on their wrists. They were both pink and blue but one sister had a little charm with the letter 'L' and the other sister had the charm with the letter 'A'. "Thought they would be a nice gift."

"And they are," Avalon assured her. "Just doesn't mean it makes me any less sad."

"Baby sister, do you think you could give me a moment with Avalon?" the Doctor looked down at Lena, "I'll take you back home right afterwards, promise."

Lena nodded, "Sure," she moved over to Avalon and gave her a big hug, Avalon quickly retreating into it, "You take care, alright? And don't worry about me, you just have fun."

"It's impossible not to worry about you, Lena," Avalon pulled back, "Your my sister..." And she meant that with all of her heart, despite not knowing whether or not she was actually Lena's sister.

Lena felt that ping of guilt in her chest. She still didn't have the courage to tell Avalon the truth. "Yeah," she gave Avalon one last hug. She turned around and gave a nod to the Doctor, hoping that he could do something to help her sister when no one else had been able to.

"I don't need a pep talk, you know," Avalon spoke quietly as Lena left, her fingers playing with the keyboard.

"I'm not here to give you one," the Doctor took a seat beside her.

"Really?"

"Yes, really," the Doctor nodded.

"Then what do you want? No offence, but...yeah," she shrugged lightly.

"I just want to know one thing," the Doctor turned to her, looking her in the eye, "One thing that I bet no one has asked you since the wedding..."

"What?"

"How do you feel?"

Avalon stiffened and looked away, "Why...why do you ask?"

"Because you got a strange letter warning you of danger and your sister - whom you've never been separated from - is leaving you. I think it's valid for someone to ask how you feel about that."

Avalon had to agree with that but wasn't going to openly agree, "It's...I don't know," she shrugged, "There's no words that come close to describing it, honestly."

"I get that, but maybe you can say something so it doesn't stay bottled up inside. You remember how that went the last time with your nightmares, right?" for some reason, he saw her blush and was going to ask about it when she spoke again.

She let out a big breath. "I mean, what do you want me to say? That maybe it scares me a little? What'd be the point?"

"Ava, you know it's never a good idea to keep things bottled inside. We've been over this," the Doctor sighed.

"Yeah, fine, maybe I _am_ a little scared. And I'm sad because Lena is leaving but at the same time I'm thinking it's better for her to be away for whenever this thing comes for me..."

"Nothing is going to come for you, Ava, I promise," the Doctor placed a hand on her arm.

"We'll see, won't we?" Avalon gave a brief smirk that the Doctor knew was just meant to make him believe she was better.

"How's about a small gift, hmm?" he surprised her with instead.

"What?" she frowned in confusion.

He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a rectangular box wrapped in red and green wrapping paper.

"What?" Avalon blinked as the gift was held between them, "But...I don't understand..."

"What's to understand?" the Doctor chuckled, "It's Christmas, it's a gift, and it's for you."

"You didn't even know it was going to be Christmas," she took the gift and turned it over, trying to see what it was by shaking it. "Lena just stopped by a store before leaving, but you-"

"This is sort of something I've been working on for some time. Christmas just happened to complete it," the Doctor smiled, "Go ahead, open it."

Avalon studied the gift for another moment before she began unwrapping it. She found a white box underneath in the shape of a rectangle and took off its lid. Inside laid a silver journal with her initials 'A.H.R.' engraved on the bottom of the cover and a latch binding the journal shut, "It's a journal," she whispered as she took it out the box, "You got me a journal," she looked at the Doctor with blinking eyes.

"Well, yes, but there's more to it," the Doctor was now in complete smiles, nervous, but still smiles, and nervous. Why was he nervous? It was just a journal, "I know you said you didn't want to buy a new one cause of the last one's special value to you, but this one might change your mind."

"Not to be rude or anything but I find that a bit difficult," Avalon admitted with a sad smile, "My mother, Emmalina, gave me that journal and it had this…" she swallowed hard, unable to finish her words anymore.

The Doctor set a hand on her shoulder, "I know…that's why I went ahead and did this…" he took the journal from her and kept it between them as he opened it up to the first page, making sure Avalon could see it.

Her eyes widened as she looked at the page that had writing on it, "Oh my god…"

"I didn't look, I just scanned and moved it," the Doctor quickly said before she jumped to conclusions, "I swear."

But Avalon had no doubt about it. Out of everyone of their group, only he and Rory had stayed away from all her writings in the past. She slowly took the journal from his hands and read the familiar words of the first page, "…these are my mother's words she wrote in my first journal. The ones that inspired me to write…" she looked up with teary eyes, "You did this?"

He nodded, "I know it's not the same as the original and that's okay, but this is a very special kind of journal that you'll never finish."

"Why do you say that?"

"Cause it's bigger on the inside," he whispered with pure excitement.

"What?" she frowned and turned the pages of the journal, "It seems ordinary to me…"

"It's like the TARDIS, it's infinitely endless," the Doctor declared, "You can keep writing in this thing forever and you will never run out of pages. It's the ultimate journal. Best of all is it contains all of your original journal's entries with your mother's writing in the beginning, see?" he made her flip to the first couple of pages, making sure to keep a look on the side so she wouldn't think he was looking at her writing, "You'll never have to buy another journal."

"This is…" Avalon bit her lip as she looked at all her old entries, "…there are no words to describe how perfect this is! It's truly fairytale like," she looked up with a happy smile, "I love it, thank you."

"Merry Christmas, Avalon," he smiled softly.

She hugged her journal with joy at the thought of writing again. Oh she had a lot of things to write about now and she finally could without feeling guilty, "Thank you," she looked at him and kiss his cheek.

As she pulled away, the Doctor had turned his head to kiss her cheek but accidentally found himself a bit _too_ close to her lips. That was the second time something like that happened and it was really starting to take a toll on him. It made him feel...odd, not in a bad way but...odd. Avalon realized how close they were to each other and blushed as she looked away, a faint image of her dreams coming back and only making things worse.

"I, um...I think Lena is probably waiting," she finally said, her gaze locked on the piano's keyboard, "We should go take her."

"Um, yeah, yeah, don't worry," the Doctor quickly stood up, clearing his throat.

"Thank you, though," Avalon smiled softly as she gazed back at her new journal. "I won't forget this present ever, trust me."

She really wouldn't.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

To be continued in... **Falling in Temptation**!

Thank you to everyone who's read, commented, favorited and followed! I hope you guys continue onto the second story!

I thought it might be fun to include a couple fun facts about the story while I was drafting? If it was boring then let me know and I'll never do it again xD

Fun facts:

1\. Avalon's name was taken from the street name of my old college!

2\. Lena was originally named 'Melina' but since I totally fell in love with the character Lena Luthor from Supergirl, I had to make the switch!

3\. Originally, I was going to make Avalon confess to her dad that she knew she was adopted - it was going to blow up into a whole argument! I decided against it in the end because I didn't want her to join the Doctor out of anger. This way she joined because she wanted to and she's also going to be safer with him!

4\. I originally intended on bringing Avalon along right after the Eleventh Hour but I thought it would be better to introduce each OC separately, leaving Avalon for last since she's the main OC.

* * *

Once again, thanks for reading and see you in the next story that's already published on my account!


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